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FIRST ON FOX: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quietly arrested more than 1,000 illegal immigrants in the Washington, D.C., region in what federal sources said was one of the agency’s most successful operations to date.
Multiple ICE sources told Fox News that the agency arrested 1,328 illegal immigrants over 14 days in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. The arrests took place in Virginia and Maryland, both of which have sanctuary-type policies in place.
Of those arrested, almost 400 illegal immigrants had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, including a Salvadoran national wanted in Richmond, Virginia, on a murder warrant. Other crimes included rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, DUI, robbery and attempted murder.
Additionally, ICE officers arrested members of the foreign terrorist organizations MS-13 and Tren de Aragua and the 18th Street Gang.
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The operation comes as Maryland and Virginia, particularly Fairfax County, Virginia, have seen significant crime involving illegal immigrants, including violent and sexual offenses.
The operation, titled “Operation Safe Community — Washington, D.C.,” took place from Aug. 1-14.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News that “the brave men and women of ICE are hard at work every single day getting these dangerous illegal aliens out of our country.”
“Over the course of just two weeks in Virginia and Maryland, they arrested sexual assailants, kidnappers, drunk drivers, robbers, and gang members,” Mullin said.
Mullin added that “while sanctuary politicians in Virginia and Maryland keep putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people, the Trump Administration will always put American citizens first.”
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“By arresting and removing illegal aliens from our communities, we will make America safe again,” Mullin said.
Among those arrested during the operation was Jamaican illegal immigrant Rowan Andrew Brown, whose criminal history includes convictions for identity theft, kidnapping and illegal reentry and an arrest for fraud. ICE officers arrested Brown in Alexandria, Virginia, a particularly affluent suburb of D.C.
Also in Alexandria, ICE arrested Angel Gabriel Ortiz-Hernandez, from Guatemala, whose criminal history includes arrests for rape of a mentally incapacitated victim and two counts of aggravated sexual battery of an incapacitated victim.
While much of the operation was focused on arresting illegal immigrants in the Washington, D.C. suburbs, the ICE sources said officers also conducted targeted immigration enforcement actions throughout the entirety of both Virginia and Maryland.
In Harrisonburg, Virginia, ICE arrested a Honduran woman named Estrella Reyes-Funez, whose criminal history includes a conviction for felony hit-and-run and arrests for making a threat to bomb or burn, assault and battery on a family member and violating a protective order.
Meanwhile, in Richmond, ICE arrested Eygner Wilfredo Huezo-Moran, from El Salvador, who has a warrant for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder.
ICE arrested another Salvadoran national and MS-13 member named German Mejia-Baires in Manassas, Virginia. His criminal history includes an arrest for felony malicious wounding and convictions for driving while intoxicated, driving on a suspended license and illegal reentry.
DHS said that all these individuals arrested will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the U.S.
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ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Acting Assistant Director Patricia Hyde commented that “our officers are the best in the world at finding people who do not want to be located.”
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“That’s exactly what we did throughout the course of this operation,” said Hyde. “Removing these criminal alien offenders from Virginia and Maryland neighborhoods makes for much safer communities, and that is exactly what the men and women of ICE work to accomplish every day across our great nation.”
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