ICE arrests 31 in Kansas during month-long enforcement action
CHICAGO — Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 331 individuals during a month-long operation targeting criminal aliens and other immigration violators in six Midwestern states.
This operation, which began May 9 and concluded Monday, is the latest effort by ICE to arrest and remove convicted criminal aliens. The arrests were made in the following six states: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Kansas and Missouri.
ERO officers based in Wichita arrested 31 individuals. Twenty-five of the 31 have been convicted of crimes in the United States including: battery, unlawful discharge of a firearm, sexual assault, aggravated assault, DUI, and robbery. The remaining six are agency enforcement priorities as recent border crossers. Ten of the 30 were previously deported from the United States and illegally re-entered.
The 30 males and one female arrested are from the following countries: Mexico (23), Guatemala (7), Honduras (1). The majority of the arrests were made in Wichita (15), Dodge City (5) and Garden City (4), with additional arrests in Great Bend, Hutchinson, Liberal, Newton, and Ulysses.
Following are two case examples of those arrested in Kansas during this operation:
- A 47-year-old Mexican national with prior convictions for battery and aggravated assault. He was arrested May 24 in Wichita and remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.
- A 38-year-old Mexican national with prior convictions for possession of a firearm and unlawful discharge of a firearm. He was arrested June 2 in Dodge City and remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.
“Our dedicated officers strive to make our communities safer by arresting convicted criminal aliens and removing them from the United States," said Ricardo Wong, field officer director for ERO Chicago. "By focusing our resources on the most egregious offenders, we ensure the very best use of our resources while immediately improving public safety.”
Those arrested who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.
All of those apprehended during this operation were immigration enforcement priorities as outlined in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson’s 2014 memorandum.
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