On Tuesday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement for rounding up hundreds of “‘hard-working, law-abiding" and "patriotic" illegal aliens during an immigration enforcement operation in the Northern California last week, where ICE arrested more than 150 illegally present aliens.
Roughly half those arrested had convictions for crimes including assault and battery, crimes against children, weapons charges and DUIs.
ICE also rounded up another 232 illegal aliens in a second related operation in the Pacific Northwest. On Friday, the agency published a breakdown of those “hardworking,” “patriotic” illegal aliens – most of whom were, apparently, anything but “law-abiding.”
Of those 232, 180 were convicted criminals, had been issued a final order of removal and had refused to leave, or had been previously deported and came back illegally. Additionally, 115 of them had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses including child sex crimes, assault and weapons charges, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors, ICE reported.
- In San Leandro, a previously removed citizen of Mexico, who has criminal convictions of involuntary manslaughter and domestic violence.
- In Fresno County, a previously removed citizen of El Salvador, who has criminal convictions including assault with force.
- In Sacramento, a previously removed citizen of Mexico, who has criminal convictions of negligent discharge of a firearm and driving under the influence.
- In Fresno County, a previously removed citizen of Mexico, who has criminal convictions of battery on spouse and burglary.
- In Vallejo, a previously removed citizen of El Salvador, who has multiple criminal convictions for driving under the influence
ICE explained that illegal aliens who don’t have criminal convictions on their record get caught up in the raids not because they're being targeted, but because leftist policies in sanctuary cities have made it impossible for ICE to selectively go after criminal aliens alone.
“Recent legislation has negatively impacted ICE operations in California by nearly eliminating all cooperation and communication with our law enforcement partners in the state by prohibiting local law enforcement from contracting with the federal government to house detainees,” ICE stated in their press release.
"ICE has no choice but to continue to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” officials added.
“Ultimately, efforts by local politicians have shielded removable criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and created another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect.”