Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations team just carried out a sweeping raid in Los Angeles, taking more than two dozen illegal immigrant sex offenders off of the streets, including multiple individuals who had committed horrific crimes against children.
As background, the Enforcement and Removal Operations team is one of ICE’s three operational directorates and is the main federal law enforcement authority responsible for enforcing immigration laws within the borders. It principally does so by arresting and removing those who violate US immigration laws and pose a danger to American communities.
Describing its duties, ICE notes that its “primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal.”
In a statement released about the operation and who was nabbed during it, ICE said, “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Los Angeles announced today the arrest of 26 unlawfully present foreign nationals during a local enforcement operation that began on Dec. 18, and concluded on Dec. 20. ERO officers focused enforcement efforts on removable noncitizens — specifically, those identified as having criminal convictions for sex offenses and pose a serious threat to public safety.”
The statement also noted some of the worst offenders that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations team was able to take off the streets of Los Angeles during the operation, namely three child predators. Describing the first one, the statement said, “In Los Angeles, a 19-year-old citizen of El Salvador was convicted by the Superior Court of California of felony sexual forcible oral copulation of a minor over 14-years-old and battery by restraint.”
Continuing, it described the other two illegal immigrants who committed horrific acts against children, saying, “In Los Angeles, a 40-year-old citizen of Mexico was convicted by the Superior Court of California of felony lewd acts with a child and continuous sexual abuse” and “In Los Angeles, a 35-year-old citizen of Guatemala was convicted by the Superior Court of California of felony child molestation in an inhabited dwelling.”
Speaking on the arrests and operation himself, Enforcement and Removal Operations Los Angeles FOD Thomas Giles said, “The outcome of this operation exemplifies the professionalism, dedication and commitment of ERO Los Angeles officers to public safety. Removing these individuals and the threats they represent from our communities is our mission, and we will continue to safely and effectively enforce the immigration laws of our nation.”
The statement also notes that in fiscal year 2022 alone, the ERO officers arrested over 46,000 immigrants with criminal histories and brought nearly 200,000 charges against them, including over 21,000 assault offense charges and over 8,000 sex and sexual assault offenses. Other charges included kidnapping and homicide.
While large, that number of immigrants arrested is still just a drop in the bucket compared to the millions upon millions of illegal immigrants who have poured into America across the southern border during Joe Biden’s presidency, a situation Republicans like Mike Johnson are demanding needs to end ASAP but which the president has shown little willingness to handle in a serious and definite manner.
Featured image credit: ERO statement
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