ICE arrests 50 felons statewide
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Federal immigration officials are preparing to deport 50 convicted felons -- all arrested in Texas in the last five days.
Forty of those arrested were sex offenders, and seven were arrested in Central and South Texas.
All of the offenders previously served time, but remained illegally in the U.S. afterward. ICE teamed up with the Texas Department of Public Safety to make the arrests.
Field Office Director Enrique Lucero says the first-time partnership was a success.
"We absolutely believe the communities are safer, that there are today 40 less sex offenders living within the state of Texas,” he said. “Some of them have already been removed. We're in the process of removing all of them."
Lucero says Texas ICE officers removed nearly 1,300 sex offenders this year.
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of deportations has nearly doubled under the Obama Administration.