An undisclosed number of Vincentian nationals were among 58 individuals arrested during an operation by Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) spanning the New York metropolitan area that concluded Aug. 12, targeting criminal aliens and other enforcement priorities.
During the five-day enforcement action, ERO officers apprehended aliens with criminal convictions, in addition to others who fall under the agency’s enforcement priorities. Those arrested had criminal histories with past convictions for rape, kidnapping, robbery, burglary and other serious criminal offenses.
The foreign nationals arrested during the operation include citizens of 17 countries, including Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Belize, St. Vincent, Guyana, Philippines, Jamaica, Indonesia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, El Salvador, Lebanon, Colombia, Israel, Romania, and the United Kingdom.
Those who are not being criminally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States. The arrestees who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country.
The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, or pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future.
All of those apprehended during the operation were immigration enforcement priorities as outlined in Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson’s 2014 memorandum.
Priority 1 targets include threats to national security, criminal street gang members, convicted felons, and aggravated felons. Priority 2 targets include individuals with convictions for three or more misdemeanors, or convictions for significant misdemeanors, including DUIs.
