WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) - A nationwide operation centered on illegal immigrant convicts subject to deportation over a five-day period is being hailed as a success.
The operation, led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), ended with the arrest of 2,059 convicted criminals.
Of those, 40 were taken into custody here in Wisconsin. 15 of the 40 people were arrested in Green Bay. Officials also arrested 4 people in Appleton, 2 in De Pere, 2 in Menasha, 2 in Neenah, one in Freedom, one in Seymour and one in Sheboygan.
The operation took place between March 1 and March 5.
"This nationwide operation led to the apprehension of more than 2,000 convicted criminal aliens who pose the greatest risk to our public safety," Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a release. "Today, communities around the country are safer because of the great work of the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
1,000 of those criminals arrested in the operation, known as "Cross Check," had multiple criminal convictions including felony convictions, voluntary manslaughter, child pornography, robbery, kidnapping, and rape.
58 are known gang members or affiliates and 89 are convicted sex offenders.
ICE officers were assisted in Wisconsin by the Green Bay Police Department Gang Task Force, Brown County Sheriff's Office, Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.