In a seven- or eight-month investigation ending Nov. 30, ICE agents joined with officers of the New York City Department of Probation in arresting 81 immigrants with prior criminal records in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan. The raids were part of "Operation Retract," an ongoing effort by ICE's New York office to arrest immigrants on probation for prior misdemeanor or felony convictions and place them in removal proceedings.

Of the total number arrested, 45 were legal permanent residents and 36 were out of status. All but nine of the arrested immigrants were from either Latin America (52) or the English-speaking Caribbean (20). They came from the Dominican Republic (28), Mexico (13), Jamaica (10), China (5), Trinidad (4), Colombia (4), Guyana (3), Ecuador (3), El Salvador (3), Korea (2), Antigua (1), Barbados (1), India (1), Grenada (1), Honduras (1) and the United Kingdom (1). ICE agents transported the immigrants to detention facilities where they will be held during removal proceedings. (ICE news release, Nov. 30)

On Nov. 29, ICE arrested 45 immigrants in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan who according to ICE are "child predators and criminal alien sex offenders." The arrests were made under ICE's "Operation Predator" and were separate from those made under "Operation Retract," although the arrested immigrants were also on probation in New York City for prior misdemeanor or felony convictions. Those arrested were citizens of Bangladesh, Bosnia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Romania and Trinidad. (ICE news release, Nov. 29)

Another 137 people were arrested in New Jersey between Nov. 13 and 18 in "Return to Sender" raids, which target people with prior removal orders. ICE said 54 of those arrested had been ordered removed by an immigration judge; the other 83 were simply without status. Only 17 of the 137 had criminal records. Those arrested came from 21 countries, including Poland, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Pakistan, Egypt, India, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Albania, Macedonia and the United Kingdom. (Press of Atlantic City, Nov. 21; ICE news release, Nov. 20)

From Immigration News Briefs, Dec. 1

See our last posts on the immigration crackdown.