More than 300 arrested in ICE operation targeting illegal alien fugitives and immigration violators

SAN DIEGO - A total of 359 immigration violators from 15 different nations were arrested here during the past two weeks by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers as part of Operation Return to Sender, an ongoing ICE initiative targeting criminal aliens, foreign nationals with final orders of deportation, previously deported aliens, and other immigration violators.

Of the foreign nationals taken into custody during the two-week enforcement action, 50 have criminal records, including past convictions for child sex offenses, robbery, and drug violations. Among those arrested was a 26-year-old legal permanent resident from Pakistan who was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for her role in a bank robbery. The group also included 61 immigration fugitives, aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation issued by immigration judges, and 39 previously deported aliens who illegally re-entered the United States after being removed.

Since many of these individuals have already been ordered deported through immigration proceedings, they are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining aliens are in ICE custody and are awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge. Some of those targeted as part of the enforcement action are immigration fugitives, illegal aliens who have ignored final orders of deportation issued by immigration judges.