ICE makes 33 arrests in Portland during ‘Operation Safe City’ targeting sanctuary areas
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PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested nearly 500 people nationwide, including 33 in Portland, during a four-day operation focused on sanctuary cities.
ICE called it “Operation Safe City.” The mission concluded Wednesday.
ICE said the operation, “targeted individuals who have violated U.S. immigration laws, prioritizing aliens with criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, known gang members and affiliates, immigration fugitives and those who re-entered the U.S. after deportation.”
ICE reported that people active with the DACA program were not targeted for arrest.
The operation was specifically carried out in sanctuary cities, “where ICE deportation officers are denied access to jails and prisons to interview suspected immigration violators or jurisdictions where ICE detainers are not honored,” according to the agency.
In Los Angeles, 101 people were arrested. Arrests also took place in New York, Baltimore, Denver and Washington D.C., among other areas.
Acting Director Tom Homan said ICE wants to build “cooperative, respectful relationships” with law enforcement agencies, but “non-cooperation policies severely undermine that effort at the expense of public safety.”
"Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration," Homan said. "As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities."
ICE reported that some of the people arrested during this operation will face federal criminal prosecutions for illegal entry and illegal re-entry after removal. The suspects who are not being federally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the U.S. Those who have outstanding orders of removal, or who returned to the U.S. illegally after being removed, 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, according to ICE.
Multiple lawmakers called for an investigation last week into the actions of ICE agents who questioned a county employee without identifying themselves outside the Washington County Courthouse. The Hispanic man is a U.S. citizen and was mistaken for a suspect in the country illegally. The incident was caught on camera.
