ICE arrests 12 illegal aliens in Maryland during surge enforcement effort
BALTIMORE – On Thursday, officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore Field Office concluded a four-day surge enforcement action from May 13-16 netting 12 arrests.
The individuals were arrested for violating U.S. immigration laws in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act. Those targeted for arrest had been issued final orders of removal within the past five years and had criminal histories or pending criminal charges.
“Today’s announcement reflects the agency’s commitment to enforcing our immigration laws in an orderly and logical manner as we experience increasing strain on our limited resources,” said Baltimore Field Office Director (FOD) Diane Witte. “The illegal aliens targeted for arrest today came to the attention of our fugitive operations teams by way of the criminal justice system, and by nature of their outstanding orders of removal.”
The arrestees (11 men, one woman) included nationals from the following six countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico and Zimbabwe.
ICE conducts targeted immigration enforcement in compliance with federal law and agency policy.
During targeted enforcement operations, ICE officers frequently encounter additional individuals who may be in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. Those persons will be evaluated on a case by case basis for enforcement action.
“Operating in an environment with increasingly limited cooperation from local jurisdictions creates an equally increasing need to arrest fugitives within the communities in which they live and work. When illegal criminal aliens are released from jails into the community despite the presence of an ICE detainer, we see the compromise of public safety and officer safety, as well as the potential for encountering additional individuals previously unknown to ICE who are illegally present in the United States,” said FOD Witte.
ICE no longer exempts classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention, and if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.
Officers continue to execute the enforcement mission with the same level of professionalism and respect that ICE officers and agents are committed to exhibiting every day.
Editor’s Note: The arrest statistics provided in this news release represent preliminary data that has been manually reported by an ICE Field Office and may vary from official agency metrics contained in ICE’s system of record. Because ICE’s official metrics are reported by Area of Responsibility (AOR), they may differ in content and level of detail from data that has been manually reported by a Field Office.
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