As part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) ongoing commitment to prioritizing the removal of criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, 40 convicted criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators were arrested during a three-day operation in the greater Indianapolis area.

This operation concluded Sunday, November 4, 2012, and was conducted by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations teams in Indianapolis.

Of the 40 arrested, 25 had prior convictions for crimes such as: assault, domestic battery, drunken driving, and drugs. Thirteen of the 40 were immigration fugitives who had been previously ordered to leave the country but failed to depart; the majority of these also had criminal convictions. Four of those arrested had been previously removed from the country and illegally re-entered the United States, which is a felony.

Following is the nationality breakdown of the 37 men and three women arrested: Mexico (33), El Salvador (2), Cuba (1), Guatemala (1), Honduras (1), India (1), and Peru (1). The majority of the arrests (34), occurred in Indianapolis. Additional arrests were made in the following Indiana communities: Brownsburg, Camby, and Westfield.

Following are summaries of two individuals arrested during this operation:

• A 31-year-old Mexican national has a prior criminal conviction for driving drunk and endangering a person. He is also an immigration fugitive with an outstanding deportation order. He was arrested Nov. 4 at his residence in Indianapolis and remains in ICE custody pending removal.
• A 34-year-old Mexican national has a prior conviction for drug possession. He was previously deported and illegally re-entered the United States, which is a felony. He was arrested Nov. 4 at his Indianapolis residence and remains in ICE custody pending removal.

“ERO is committed to making our communities safer by arresting and removing convicted criminal aliens and immigration fugitives,” said Ricardo Wong, field office director for ERO Chicago. “By targeting our efforts on these egregious offenders, we are improving public safety while making the best use of our resources.”

This enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program, which is responsible for investigating, locating, arresting and removing at-large criminal aliens and immigration fugitives.

ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that targets serious criminal aliens who present the greatest risk to the security of our communities, such as those charged with or convicted of homicide, rape, robbery, kidnapping, major drug offenses and threats to national security. ICE also prioritizes the arrest and removal of those who game the immigration system including immigration fugitives or criminal aliens who have been previously deported and illegally re-entered the country.