ICE arrests dozens of immigrants with rap sheets in NJ

During a five-day operation in New Jersey last week, federal immigration agents arrested dozens of undocumented immigrants who had criminal or arrest records, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The agents with the Newark-based Enforcement and Removal Operations, or ERO, unit targeted immigrants living in Middlesex County who had criminal records as well as suspects that had been behind bars at the Middlesex County Jail but were later released, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

ICE arrested 37 people between the ages of 21 to 68 from Brazil, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, and Turkey. Middlesex County Jail officials had released 16 of those suspects without honoring ICE detainers, according to a federal press release.

A detainer is an official request from a DHS agency to local jail officials or other law enforcement to hold suspects beyond their release date so that federal officials can decide whether to take them into custody for deportation proceedings.

Ruben Perez, the acting field office director of ERO in Newark, said that ICE has a "commitment to public safety" and expressed frustration that local authorities are not honoring ICE detainers.  

"Middlesex County, which aspires to be a 'sanctuary county' by protecting criminal aliens, in the process assists criminals in undermining federal law, and creates a dangerous environment in the community," he said in a statement. "It also overburdens local law enforcement. ICE will continue to execute its mission in such communities."

ICE said that many of the suspects captured in last week's roundup have arrests and convictions for aggravated criminal sexual contact, aggravated assault, DUI, endangering the welfare of a child, battery, theft, burglary, possession of a weapon, forgery, domestic violence assault, and more. They remain in federal custody pending deportation or immigration proceedings.