ICE picks up three locally during May operation (South Coast Today)

ICE picks up three locally during May operation

DAN McDONALD

July 01, 2011 12:00 AM

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding three men who were arrested locally during a recent operation targeting illegal immigrants with criminal records.

A 53-year-old man, originally from Portugal, was arrested May 16 in Fall River. A 47-year-old man from Brazil was arrested on that same date in Fall River. Both were charged with larceny and await deportation.

A 35-year-old man from Guatemala, meanwhile, was arrested May 15 in New Bedford during the same operation. He is charged with felony assault and awaits "further immigration proceedings." ICE did not elaborate or release any names.

All three are still in ICE custody.

The operation was part of a seven-day sweep that led to the arrests of more than 2,400 convicted illegal immigrants from all 50 states during May.

Chuck Jackson, a Boston-based ICE spokesman, said 55 people were arrested in Massachusetts as part of Operation Cross Check. About 175 federal, state and local officers took part in the arrests throughout New England, according to Jackson.

About 22 percent of those arrested nationwide during the operation were immigration fugitives, meaning they were convicted criminals with outstanding orders of deportation who had failed to leave the country, according to ICE.