ICE Arrests 12 Illegal Immigrants In Baltimore During Sting
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 12 illegal immigrants during a four-day sting.
The 11 men and one woman arrested were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Mexico and Zimbabwe.
"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 immigrants were arrested for violating 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.
"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 Witte.