ICE announces 44 arrests in Chicago-area operation

Staff report
2:51 p.m. CDT, June 7, 2012

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 44 people during a five-day operation this week targeting "egregious immigration law violators" in the Chicago area, officials announced today.

ICE said those arrested were "convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators" rounded up in Chicago and the western suburbs, including West Chicago, Cicero, Aurora, Elgin, Joliet, Downers Grove and Carpentersville.

The operation by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations teams ended Wednesday.

Of the 44 arrested, 34 had prior convictions for crimes such as weapons possession, domestic battery, aggravated drunken driving, arson, drugs and burglary, ICE said.

Twenty three of the 44 were immigration fugitives who had been ordered to leave the country but never left, ICE said, and the majority of them also had criminal convictions. Eleven of those arrested had been removed from the country and illegally re-entered the U.S., which is a felony.

“ERO is committed to making our communities safer by arresting and removing convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives,” said Ricardo Wong, field office director for ICE ERO in Chicago. “By targeting our efforts on these egregious offenders, we are improving public safety while making the best use of our resources.”

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