Federal immigration officials on Wednesday announced the arrest of 87 convicted criminal aliens in Illinois, part of Operation Cross Check, a national crackdown the led to more than 2,900 arrests across Cook and several suburban Chicago counties.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 87 Illinois arrests included nationals from Cambodia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland and Zambia. Arrests were made in 13 counties, including Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and Will, and all but two of those taken into custody were men, according to a release from ICE.
Those arrested in Illinois included:
— A 47-year-old Mexican man residing in Chicago who convicted in 1984 of possession with the intent to sell cocaine and marijuana.
— A 33-year-old Mexican man residing in west suburban Addison, convicted of criminal trespass, burglary, DUI, and resisting a peace officer. He was also identified as re-entering the U.S. after having been removed and may face federal prosecution for illegal re-entry.
“The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE’s ongoing commitment and focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens...”, ICE Director John Morton said.
The seven-day operation, the largest of its kind, involved the collaboration of more than 1,900 ICE officers and agents from all of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations’ 24 field offices, as well as other federal, state and local law enforcement partners. Arrests occurred in all 50 states and four U.S. territories, the release said.
All of the 2,901 individuals taken into custody had prior criminal convictions including at least 1,282 who had multiple criminal convictions. More than 1,600 had felony convictions, including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors and aggravated assault. At least 42 were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders, the release said.
Because of their serious criminal histories and prior immigration arrests, at least 146 of will face prosecution on a variety of charges including illegal re-entry, a felony which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
