- Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested 171 unauthorized noncitizens with criminal records in a recent operation across 25 major cities, targeting individuals who committed serious crimes such as murder or assault against children.
- The Biden administration’s changes in immigration enforcement priorities have drawn criticism from Republicans, with ICE now prioritizing recent border crossers and those with criminal records instead of solely focusing on illegal border crossings.
- ICE is working on using new technology to streamline the immigration adjudication process for migrants apprehended at the border, aiming to make it easier for them to move through the system. However, ICE officials express the need for more resources to effectively target all criminal noncitizens.
Additional Coverage:
- ICE arrests 171 noncitizens in latest enforcement push (abcnews.go.com)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Thursday that they have arrested 171 unauthorized noncitizens with criminal records in a recent enforcement operation across 25 major cities. The individuals arrested had committed crimes such as murder, homicide, or assault against children. ICE Acting Director Patrick J. Lechleitner described them as “very bad individuals” who needed to be taken off the streets. More than 100 of those arrested were sex offenders who will now go through immigration proceedings for deportation.
The Biden administration has faced criticism from Republicans over changes in immigration enforcement priorities. Under the new structure, simply crossing the border illegally is not enough to make a noncitizen a top priority for removal. Instead, ICE is focusing on recent border crossers and those with criminal records. Lechleitner emphasized that they prioritize targeting individuals based on their intelligence-led priorities.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations head Daniel Bible mentioned that the agency is working on using new technology to streamline the immigration adjudication process for migrants apprehended at the border. This would make it easier for them to check in and move through the system. Bible acknowledged that in cities like New York and Miami with high volumes of cases, it has taken time to schedule individuals, but they are leveraging technology to address this issue.
According to ICE, they arrested 73,822 noncitizens with criminal records last year. However, ICE officials have expressed the need for more resources to effectively target the full range of criminal noncitizens.
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- ICE arrests 171 noncitizens in latest enforcement push (abcnews.go.com)