114 arrested in immigration sweep in PA

ICE arrests 186 foreign nationals in 10 day sweep

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweep, conducted over 10 days in three states, picked up 186 foreign nationals, 141 of those arrests in Pennsylvania.

According to ICE, the operation targeted criminals, fugitives, people who had illegally re-entered the country and other immigration violators in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware.

Jennifer Ritchey, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office director, said some of those taken into custody for immigration violations were “dangerous individuals (who) had been released to the streets instead of being turned over to ICE.”

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Ritchey said that among those arrested were:

• A 46-year-old convicted criminal from Ecuador with pending local charges who had been given a deportation order in August 2007.
• A 39-year-old criminal from Jamaica with prior criminal convictions for assault and endangering the welfare of children.
• A 34-year-old from Guatemala who is a registered sex offender.  

All three had active immigration detainers at the time they were in the custody of the Philadelphia Police Department, Ritchey said, but were released instead of being held for ICE.

More: ICE hails nearly 200 immigration arrests in Pa. region

“Philadelphia is noted as a jurisdiction that publicly limits cooperation with ICE and frequently ignores legally authorized detainers,” according to an ICE media release about the sweep.

The tri-state operation was conducted between May 15 and 24.

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The news release also carried the disclaimer that “ICE does not conduct sweeps, checkpoints or raids that target aliens indiscriminately.

“Reports to the contrary create panic and put communities and law enforcement personnel in unnecessary danger. 

“This operation targeted public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens, gang members, and individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who re-entered the country after being deported and immigration fugitives ordered deported by federal immigration judges.”

The individuals who do not face criminal prosecution will be processed for deportation. Those with outstanding deportation orders or who illegally returned to the United States after previously being deported are subject to deportation again.

This article is part of a content-sharing partnership between York Daily Record and WITF.