(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-District of Columbia agents arrested 189 illegal foreign nationals and served notices of inspection to 187 local businesses during an enhanced targeted enforcement operation focused on finding “criminal alien offenders” illegally living in the Washington, D.C. area.
“The District of Columbia is exponentially safer today because of countless hours of investigative work and dedication to duty displayed by ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russell Hott said.
The ICE operation was part of ongoing Trump administration efforts to target the most violent offenders and with removal orders from federal immigration judges.
The multi-agency operation focused on finding “the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C.,” Hott said. “Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid. I commend the efforts of everyone involved, as all were truly committed to the success of this operation.”
Agencies involved in the four-day operation included ICE-ERO, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Virginia Department of Corrections, FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service.
They focused on targeting “criminal alien offenders including members of transnational criminal organizations known to operate in and around Washington, D.C.,” including MS-13, Tren de Aragua and 18th Street Gang, ICE announced Tuesday. TdA and MS-13 were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Trump administration in February.
“The success of this enhanced operation highlights the resolve of ICE and our federal partners in keeping our country safe from criminal alien offenders,” ICE Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. Acting Special Agent in Charge Christopher Heck said. “Many of the aliens arrested have egregious criminal histories to include violent crimes against residents of our Washington, D.C. communities.”
Many arrests were made after local jurisdictions and so-called sanctuary cities refused to honor immigration detainers and released illegal foreign nationals onto the streets, ICE said.
After District of Columbia officials implemented a wide range of so-called sanctuary policies and as the border crisis worsened, the mayor declared a public emergency in 2022. Her repeated requests for assistance from the National Guard were rejected by the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to implement consequences for local jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement, including losing federal funding, The Center Square reported.
In addition to finding and arresting criminal offenders at large, ICE also served 187 notices of inspection to Washington, D.C.-area businesses to ensure they comply with federal immigration and employment law.
“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and this administration’s focus on law and order, these arrests represent a major step forward in making Washington, D.C., safer for legal citizens and their families,” U.S. Attorney Edward Martin Jr. said. “These arrests make clear that violating our nation’s immigration laws will not be ignored.”
Examples of violent offenders arrested are all men illegally in the country. They either illegally reentered after previously being deported or illegally entered as a gotaway, those who illegally enter between ports of entry, don’t make asylum or other immigration claims and evade capture.
They include a 47-year-old Guatemala national with a criminal history of drug possession, illegal reentry, aggravated assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and sexual assault. His current criminal charges include “unlawful reentry of a previously deported alien, lewd acts, sex abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon,” among others. He also appears to have gang-affiliated tattoos on his arms, leg and chest, according to images posted by ICE.
Others were charged with “alien present without admission or parole,” meaning they illegally entered as a gotaway. They include a 25-year-old Guatemala national with a criminal history of “threat to kidnap, attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, threats to bodily harm and simple assault;” a 30-year-old Salvadoran national with a criminal history of driving while intoxicated, brandishing a machete and unauthorized use of a vehicle; a 36-year-old Mexican national with a criminal history of larceny, indecent exposure, theft and possession of a prohibited weapon-knife, among others.
Under the Biden administration, more than two million gotaways were reported, the most in U.S. history, The Center Square exclusively reported.
