Federal authorities representing districts along the southern border of the U.S. charged over 840 illegal immigrants with immigration-related crimes in just the third week of March as part of Operation Take Back America.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday that it is playing a critical role in the operation, which is a nationwide initiative to fend off illegal immigration, while also eradicating cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protecting communities from violent criminals.
Specifically, in the states of Arizona, Texas, California and New Mexico, U.S. attorneys charged over 840 individuals with violating U.S. immigration laws.
In Arizona, attorneys brought immigration-related charges against 217 suspects. Of those, the U.S. filed 91 cases involving immigrants who illegally re-entered the country, and charged 103 immigrants with illegally entering the U.S.
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The U.S. also filed 15 cases against 23 individuals accused of smuggling illegal immigrants into the U.S. through Arizona.
U.S. attorneys in Central California filed charges against 17 individuals accused of illegally re-entering the U.S. after being removed, many of whom had been previously convicted of felony crimes, including assault, before being removed from the U.S.
One suspect facing additional crimes is suspected of murder, and another was arrested on suspicion of committing assault with intent to rape, the DOJ said.
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If an illegal immigrant returns to the U.S. after being removed, they could face up to two years in federal prison, but if they are convicted of a felony and return to the U.S., they could face between 10 and 20 years in federal prison.
The DOJ said the Southern District of California filed over 90 border-related cases, including transporting illegal aliens into the U.S., bringing immigrants into the U.S. for financial gain, re-entering the U.S. after being deported and importing controlled substances into the U.S.
Forty-six individuals were charged with re-entering the U.S. in New Mexico, four were charged with alien smuggling, and 27 were charged with illegal entry.
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Texas saw the highest number of charges against illegal aliens, with 246 being filed in the Southern District of Texas, and 210 being filed in the Western District of Texas.
“We are grateful for the hard work of our border prosecutors in bringing these cases and helping to make our border safe again,” the DOJ said.
Last week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) agents and other federal enforcement authorities arrested 81 illegal aliens as part of Operation Take Back America in Kentucky.
ICE and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are close to reaching an agreement that would allow ICE to access taxpayer information to locate illegal immigrants subject to deportation.
The historic agreement would allow ICE to submit the names and addresses of illegal immigrants to cross-check against IRS tax records, which is a shift in longstanding IRS policy aimed at keeping taxpayer information strictly confidential, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The news comes as President Donald Trump has continued to ramp up the deportation effort he promised on the campaign trail, with the president attempting to use every available resource in order to aid immigration officials.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
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