AUSTIN (KXAN) — Federal officials arrested 52 undocumented immigrants in Texas during a four-day raid last week, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE announced in a press release that 46 men and six women were arrested across Texas from the following places:
- Rio Grande Valley— 9 people
- San Antonio — 7 people
- Laredo — 20 people
- Austin/Waco — 16 people
Officials say 47 immigrants were from Mexico, four from Honduras and one was from Cuba.
ICE claimed 35 people had prior convictions and/or pending charges for crimes like assault, battery, domestic violence, traffic offenses, driving under the influence, drug possession, drug trafficking, larceny, illegal re-entry after deportation, illegal entry, resisting officers, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Daniel Bible, Field Office Director for ERO in San Antonio said in the release, “ICE’s primary immigration enforcement effort is to target criminal aliens, public safety threats and individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws.”
Federal officials also claimed 18 of the people detained were immigration fugitives with a final order of removal and 21 others illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported— a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
“Our ICE officers provide a valuable public service by removing criminal aliens who pose a threat to their own immigrant communities, and they carry out the orders of federal immigration judges,” Bible said. “There are 35 fewer criminals in our communities because of the efforts of our professional and dedicated officers.”
Last week, President Donald Trump threatened to deport “millions” of people living in the country illegally, one day before he formally announced his re-election bid in 2020. Then over the weekend, he said he would delay the raids “at the request of Democrats.”
