ICE nets more than 30 fugitive arrests in Phoenix operation (KNXV-Phoenix, AZ)

ICE nets more than 30 fugitive arrests in Phoenix operation

Reported by: Katrina Wessman
Email: kwessman@abc15.com
Last Update: 10/27 3:29 pm

A special enforcement action carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fugitive Operations Team in Phoenix has resulted in Monday's deportation of 31 undocumented immigrants suspected of being criminals, fugitives, and immigration violators.

During the operation, which concluded Saturday, ICE officers worked with partners from the U.S. Marshals Service and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to locate, identify, and arrest the undocumented immigrants.

Nineteen were immigration fugitives, or those who have ignored final orders of deportation or returned to the United States illegally after being removed.

Six had criminal histories in addition to being in the country illegally.

Carlos Solis-Morales, 38, a citizen of El Salvador previously convicted for possession of cocaine for sale was one of the suspects arrested by ICE.

The majority arrests included suspects from Mexico, but the group also included foreign nationals from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Jordan.

According to the report, many of the individuals have already been through immigration proceedings making them subject to immediate removal from the country.

"We want to send a strong message to those who ignore deportation orders handed down by the nation's immigration judges that ICE is going to use all of the tools and resources at its disposal to find you and send you home," said Field Office Director Katrina S. Kane, head of ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations in Phoenix.