28 Illegal Immigrants From Iowa Arrested in ICE Midwest Operation (KCRG-IA)

28 Illegal Immigrants From Iowa Arrested in ICE Midwest Operation
By Trish Mehaffey, Reporter
Story Created: Sep 1, 2010 at 8:17 PM CDT

There were 28 illegal immigrants from Iowa among 370 who were arrested last week in what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement called the largest operation throughout 10 Midwestern states.

In the three day operation across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Kansas, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Nebraska, 370 convicted criminal illegal immigrants and immigration fugitives were arrested, Carl Rusnok, director of communications for ICE said Wednesday. The enforcement wrapped up last Thursday.

The results of the enforcement action was released at a news conference in Chicago on Friday, Rusnok said. More than 350 ICE agents and officers along with several other agencies were involved.

The 28 from Iowa were arrested from all over the state, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Sioux City, Waterloo, Des Moines, Ft. Dodge, Ottumwa, Independence and Ames, Rusnok said.

There were 347 illegals with prior criminal convictions including nine gang members and 16 convicted sex offenders, according to ICE officials. More than 56 percent of the criminal immigrants arrested in this operation had prior convictions for serious or violent crimes and 51 of the people arrested were immigration fugitives – those with outstanding orders of deportation who had failed to leave the country.

Rusnok didn’t have any information on whether the individuals from Iowa were included in the 51 previously set for deportation or whether they were convicted in the 2008 Agriprocessors immigration raid in Postville.