The Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency apprehended 132 illegal immigrants in a Washington, D.C., metropolitan area operation that took place over the last two weeks, according to an ICE statement released on Tuesday.
The Washington Field Office recently concluded Operation Eagle’s Shield, which went from July 9–20, which targeted “various violent offenders, gang members, sex offenders, fugitives from justice and those who otherwise pose a significant public safety threat,” according to their statement.
“We set out to locate and detain known, dangerous criminal aliens who are hiding and operating in the neighborhoods we call home,” Washington field office director Russell Hott said. “Today’s announcement is the result of the absolutely essential work our ICE officers perform to identify the worst of the worst and ensure they have no refuge here.”
One of the people arrested is allegedly an El Salvadorian national who is a high-ranking member of MS-13 — the most ruthless, violent gang in the world. President Trump has continued to express his desire to remove the vicious gang from the country.
A Bolivian national who has four prior convictions for rape and intercourse with a victim under thirteen was also arrested during this operation, among many others convicted of or accused of heinous crimes, including felony sexual abuse, felony sodomy, and felony strangulation, among other crimes.
Those arrested come from the following countries: Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Philippines, South Africa and Sudan.