Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have arrested 225 illegal immigrants in New York state as part of a six-day operation “Operation Keep Safe.”
The detainees, from numerous countries, were taken into custody in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley, according to a news release published Tuesday.
New York has long been considered a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants as local politicians created initiatives that hinder the cooperation with federal authorities. Oleg Chernyavsky, a top New York City police official, said in February that more than 1,500 requests from ICE to detain illegal immigrants for up to 48 hours were ignored last year.
ICE officials said that more than 180 of those detained were convicted criminals or had criminal charges pending and more than 80 of them had been issued a final order of removal and failed to leave the U.S. voluntarily — or had been previously removed from the U.S., but illegally returned.
Several detainees had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, including child sex crimes, weapons charges and assault, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.