ICE Agents Arrest Nearly 200 In LA-Area Immigration Raids
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Immigration agents arrested nearly 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally in a five-day raid in the Los Angeles area, authorities said Thursday.
Ninety percent of the 188 people detained had prior criminal convictions, many for drug offenses and driving under the influence, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement.
The arrests took place through Wednesday as federal immigration agents fanned out across cities including Los Angeles, Santa Ana and Oxnard to arrest immigrants for deportation. The vast majority of those detained were men and more than 75 percent came from Mexico.
President Donald Trump's administration has touted an increase in immigration arrests since taking office in January on promises to bolster immigration enforcement. Immigrant advocates have decried many of the arrests, especially those of immigrants without criminal histories.
One in five of those arrested had prior convictions for drug crimes. Other offenses on arrestees' rap sheets included domestic violence, sex crimes and battery, the statement said.
One of the arrestees was a 29-year-old Salvadoran man who was deported in 2014 after he was sentenced to nine years in prison for rape. He later returned to the country illegally, ICE said.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.