SAN ANTONIO — A total of 52 people were arrested in a recent four-day enforcement surge by federal officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) throughout South and Central Texas.
During the surge, which ended on Thursday, ICE deportation officers made the following arrests:
- 9 arrests in the Rio Grande Valley
- 7 arrests in San Antonio
- 20 arrests in Laredo
- 12 arrests in Austin, six of which had prior criminal offenses
- 4 arrests in Waco
Of those arrested, ICE said 46 were men and six were women. The countries of origin included 47 from Mexico, four from Honduras and one from Cuba.
ICE reported that 35 of those arrested had prior criminal histories that included convictions and/or pending charges for the following crimes:
- assault
- battery
- domestic violence
- traffic offenses
- driving under the influence
- drug possession
- drug trafficking
- larceny
- illegal re-entry after deportation
- illegal entry
- resisting officers
- aggravated assault with a deadly weapon
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Officials said a total of 18 of those arrested were immigration fugitives with a final order of removal, and 21 others illegally re-entered the U.S. after having been deported previously – a felony offense.
Depending on the person's criminality, a person who entered the country illegally after having been previously deported commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
“ICE’s primary immigration enforcement effort is to target criminal aliens, public safety threats and individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws,” said Daniel Bible, field office director for ERO in San Antonio. “Our ICE officers provide a valuable public service by removing criminal aliens who pose a threat to their own immigrant communities, and they carry out the orders of federal immigration judges. There are 35 fewer criminals in our communities because of the efforts of our professional and dedicated officers.”
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