Violence in immigs’ past
A DOZEN of the 41 undocumented immigrants swept up in federal raids in the city last week had prior convictions for rape or sex offense, sources said Friday.
More than half of those arrested by agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had previous convictions for major crimes such as rape, assault, robbery and drug sales. Some 10 others had been convicted of driving under the influence — and the rest had convictions for crimes such as police obstruction and invasion of privacy, sources said.
In all, 38 had previous convictions, two were fugitives with final orders of removal and one had re-entered the country after already being deported, sources added.
The new details contained only the suspects’ ages, nationalities and crimes.
The crackdown carried out in recent days amounted to more than 680 arrests in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, San Antonio and the New York City area.
Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly, speaking earlier in the week, said the dragnet was consistent with "routine, targeted arrests” carried out by ICE .
Advocates had said the raids rattled immigrant groups following President Trump’s controversial immigration orders signed last month.
ICE had previously released information on three of those arrested, including a gang member from El Salvador who’d been convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and a Mexican citizen convicted of first-degree sexual assault.
The others included: l A 23-year-old Guyana national with a conviction of rape. l A 51-year-old El Salvador national with a conviction of a sex offense against a child/fondling. l A 54-year-old Guinea national convicted of sexual assault carnal abuse.
Also Friday, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill released a joint statement warning immigrants about reports of crooks impersonating ICE agents and demanding cash from victims.
“Be wary of this scam and others,” the statement read.