Immigration agents arrest 88 fugitives and illegal aliens
4/23/2007, 3:59 p.m. CT
The Associated Press


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A weeklong effort culminated with the arrest of 88 fugitives and illegal aliens_ including some with previous felony convictions, federal authorities said Monday.

The operation was part of an ongoing initiative dubbed "Return to Sender," and the arrests came as the result of a targeted enforcement action by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Orleans and Jefferson Parish.

"Taking criminal aliens off our streets is a critical component of our nation's border security measures," Trey Lund, Field Office Director of ICE's Detention and Removal Office in New Orleans, said in a news release.

Those arrested were from Romania, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Operation Return to Sender is part of a comprehensive multiyear plan launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to secure America's borders and reduce illegal migration, Lund said.

Of the 88 illegal aliens arrested last week, 13 were fugitive aliens.

http://link.toolbot.com/nola.com/75560