NEW YORK \u2013 United States federal law enforcement authorities say they have arrested a number of persons who had been previously deported to the Caribbean in a four-day immigration dragnet that stretched from the suburbs north of New York City to eastern Long Island.<\/p>\n
Officials said that the 54 illegal immigrants arrested have criminal records and had previously been deported but had secretly re-entered the country<\/p>\n
They said the suspects, most of whom were arrested at their homes, included citizens of the Bahamas, Belize, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis and the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n
Officials said the tally was the largest number of once-deported immigrants ever ensnared in a single operation by immigration agents.<\/p>\n
They said the roundup, which began on Monday and ended late Thursday, reflected a strategy shift by the Obama administration that focuses on enforcement efforts aimed at catching and deporting immigrants who had been convicted of crimes or posed a national security threat.<\/p>\n
The announcement of that shift came after advocates for immigrants complained that government agents were more often sweeping up illegal immigrants with no criminal histories.<\/p>\n
Immigration authorities announced last month that they had deported a record number of immigrants over the previous 12 months; more than 195,700 of the deportees, or about half of the total, were convicted criminals.<\/p>\n
By comparison, during the last fiscal year of the Bush administration, which ended in September 2008, about 32 per cent of all deported immigrants were criminals.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Caribbean governments have blamed the spiralling crime wave on increased criminal deportees, particularly from the United States.<\/p>\n
John Morton, director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said the latest operation “underscores ICE’s commitment to strategic, sensible immigration enforcement that enhances public safety.”<\/p>\n
“ICE will continue to target, arrest and remove those who come to this country to pursue a life of crime rather than the American dream,” he said.<\/p>\n
Morton said more than 150 federal agents from the immigration agency and the United States Marshal’s Service were involved in the sweep.<\/p>\n
Among the suspects was a 31-year-old man from the Bahamas who had been convicted of robbery and auto theft, officials said.<\/p>\n
When agents raided the man’s residence in the Bronx, they questioned his brother, discovered that he had also been deported after a conviction in Florida for aggravated assault with a weapon, and arrested him as well, officials said.<\/p>\n
By Daily Nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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