"Criminal Alien." That's the phrase that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses for anyone who has come into the country illegally and committed a crime, be it a DUI or aggravated murder. ICE makes it a top priority to remove "those who come to the United States to prey upon our neighbors and communities," according to Marc Moore, an ICE field office director in Miami.
Last week, ICE teamed up with local law enforcement agencies to conduct a sweeping raid across Florida that netted 95 arrests.
The arrests included eight in Broward County and 13 in Palm Beach
County. ICE provided The Juice with basic information on some of the
Broward arrestees -- though not as much as we'd like. They chose to release the
following examples:
A 24-year-old citizen and national of the Bahamas, residing in Miami, Fla. He has prior 2010 and 2008 convictions in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties for cocaine delivery and possession.The requirements for releasing information are much less strict because the arrests were "administrative," rather than criminal. This means that the order to arrest is based on a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the arrest is directly sanctioned by the Department of Homeland Security rather than the criminal justice system.
A 27-year-old citizen and national of El Salvador, residing in Margate, Fla. He has a prior 2010 conviction in Lee County for uttering forged bills and grand theft.
An 18-year-old citizen and national of Mexico, residing in Coral Springs, Fla. He has a prior 2010 conviction in Broward County for aggravated assault with a weapon.
A 28-year-old citizen and national of Mexico, residing in Tamarac, Fla. He has a prior 2009 conviction in Miami-Dade County for two counts of burglary structure unoccupied and third degree grand theft.
"It's different from criminal court," says ICE spokeswoman Nicole Navas in Miami. "Those records are public. ICE can't release that information." She cites Homeland Security's privacy policy, which prevents them from releasing information about a person's immigration history without that person's consent.
So the arrested individuals are stuck in limbo: They haven't been accused of new crimes, so their information isn't automatically available to the public... but they have been targeted for arrest and likely deportation because of their former criminal status.
From here, some of the purported "criminal aliens" will go before an immigration judge -- but those who have previously been deported will be jetted straight out of the country without a trial.
Keep in mind, these aren't necessarily felons, or even violent criminals -- one of the subjects had a prior of child neglect -- and they may have served their full sentences in the U.S. justice system. After they get out of jail, though, they're still considered "at-large violent convicted criminal aliens" by ICE.
We've submitted a request to ICE under the Freedom of Information Act for the names and further details of those arrested. Updates to follow.
