ICE arrests 113 criminal targets during 5 day surge in New Jersey

Immigration officials in New Jersey arrested 113 criminal targets in a five day stretch earlier this month.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made the arrests throughout New Jersey from June 5 to June 9, according to a press release from the agency.

Most of those arrested — 93% — were convicted criminals, and 87% of the arrestees had previously been convicted of felonies.

“As part of this operation, we continue focus on the arrest of individuals who are criminal and are a threat to public safety and national security,” said John Tsoukaris, field office director of Enforcement and Removal Operations in Newark.

Those arrested were nationals of dozens of countries, including Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Korea, Latvia, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Peru, Poland, Slovakia, Trinidad and Uruguay.

Several agencies assisted in the enforcement surge.

“The State Parole Board is pleased to have been able to take part in this very successful fugitive operation,” said James T. Plousis, chairman of the NJ State Parole Board. “Cooperative efforts with other state and federal agencies serve as a force multiplier resulting in a significant public safety benefit.”

The individuals arrested range in age from 18 to 74 years old, and prior convictions include sex crimes, drug crimes, robbery, threats, assault, larceny, illegal re-entry and weapons charges.

Last month, ICE announced more than 1,000 gang arrests in a six week nationwide sting.

The efforts come as Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department, at the behest of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 25 executive order, is cracking down on undocumented criminal immigrants, has opened new offices, threatened gangs with justice, and has tried to force sanctuary cities to cooperate with immigration efforts – beefing up data collection to name and shame jurisdictions that decline federal detainer requests.