Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehended 171 undocumented noncitizens with a wide range of criminal convictions, including murder, homicide, and attack on children, as part of a recent enforcement operation covering 25 major cities, the agency stated Thursday.
“These were some very bad individuals that we wanted to take off the streets,” ICE Acting Director Patrick J. Lechleitner told reporters on Thursday.
According to Lechleitner, the arrests included over 100 sex offenders. ICE detained accused felons, who will now face immigration processes for deportation.
Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for shifting its immigration enforcement goals. Under the new system, crossing the border illegally is insufficient to declare a noncitizen a top priority for removal. Instead, the ICE has targeted recent border crossers and individuals with criminal records.
“We’re an intel-led organization and we’re going to target these individuals based on our priorities,” Lechleitner said in a statement.
Daniel Bible, the head of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, said the agency is also seeking to use new technology to make it easier for migrants apprehended at the border to check in and proceed through the immigration adjudication process.
“Depending on what cities you go to, you know, like the New York’s and Miami’s, there’s — there’s a high volume so it’s taken a while to actually get people scheduled in but what we are doing is we’re leveraging technology,” Bible went on to say.
Last year, ICE apprehended 73,822 noncitizens with criminal backgrounds, according to the agency. However, ICE officials believe the agency requires more resources to continue targeting the whole range of criminal noncitizens.