Federal officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrested 20 “criminal aliens and immigration violators” on both sides of state line during a four-day sweep, which ended Thursday.
Although 16 of the arrests were made in Missouri, including six in St. Joseph, four were made in Kansas, including three in Olathe. Only seven of the arrested came from Mexico. Others came from as far afield as Sierra Leone, Brazil, and Romania.
ICE uses language carefully so as not to trigger media articles about heartless federal agents sundering loving families. All those sought in the sweep either committed crimes while in the United States or returned to the country after being deported, which is a felony.
Prior criminal histories of the 20 arrested included driving under the influence, child neglect, child abuse, drug offenses, fraud and larceny.
The ICE press release not only details the operation, but it also justifies it. “The continued results of our deportation officers underscore ICE’s ongoing and steady commitment to public safety,” explained ICE official Ricardo Wong. “As part of this operation, we continue focus on the arrest of individuals who are criminal aliens and public safety threats. Because of the tireless efforts of these professional officers, there are fewer criminals in our communities.”
The press release continues: “ICE deportation officers carry out targeted enforcement operations daily nationwide as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.”
Other than Tony’s Kansas City, no other local media appears to have reported on the arrests. This is a bit surprising given the attention paid this past week to Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf, who alerted likely suspects in advance of an ICE Enforcement raid in Northern California.
Happily, in these saner parts of America, no political figure appears to have done the same.
