ICE arrests 34 in St. Louis area during month-long enforcement action
CHICAGO — Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 317 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.
In the St. Louis area, ERO officers arrested 34 individuals. Twenty-eight of the 34 have been convicted of crimes in the United States including: drugs, aggravated DUI, domestic battery, larceny and hit and run. The remaining six are agency enforcement priorities as recent border crossers. Eight of the 34 were previously deported from the United States and illegally re-entered.
The 33 males and one female arrested in the St. Louis area are from the following countries: Mexico (17), Guatemala (5), El Salvador (4), Bosnia (2), Honduras (2), and one each from Nigeria, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam. The majority were arrested in St. Louis, Missouri (16), Champaign, Illinois (5), and Decatur, Illinois (4). Additional arrests were made in the following Missouri communities: Hillsboro, Imperial, Overland, Perryville, University City, and Valley Park; and the following Illinois communities: Bloomington, Carbondale, Carlyle, Caseyville, Flora, Murphysboro, and Vandalia.
Following are two case examples of those arrested in the St. Louis area during this operation:
- A 19-year-old national of El Salvador with two prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance. He was arrested May 13 in Murphysboro, Illinois and remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.
- A 25-year-old Vietnamese national with prior convictions for drugs, larceny and damage to property. He was arrested May 11 in Imperial, Missouri 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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