As many as 51 men were recently arrested as part of a ‘targeted immigration enforcement operation’. This was carried out in Washington DC and Virginia over six days by officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to an ICE news release, yesterday.
The arrests took place between 18 – 23 September, throughout Washington DC and Virginia, including areas such as Falls Church, Manassas Park, Fairfax, Herndon, Fredericksburg, Sterling, and Woodbridge in Northern Virginia. There were other arrests in Culpeper, Charlottesville, Norfolk, Martinsville, Collinsville, Elliston, Fieldale, Chatham, and Harrisonburg. Forty-seven of those taken into custody have previous criminal convictions. ICE officials say that the four other men were also regarded as immigration enforcement priorities.
Three of the men face pending criminal charges, while another was given a final order of removal in January 2015 by an immigration judge. Another of the men is the subject of a Red Notice from Interpol. The men were nationals and citizens of several different countries, including Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Iraq, India, Jordan, El Salvador, Indonesia, South Korea, Jamaica, and Pakistan, according to ICE officials.
The names of the individuals taken into custody cannot be released by ICE officials due to federal privacy laws. This is because the men may not have been arrested on criminal charges but rather on administrative immigration charges. Some face criminal charges or await hearings, while others who have returned to the country illegally, or who have outstanding deportation orders, will be immediately removed from the US.