ICE arrests will continue in DC, immigration officials say

ICE says enforcement in DC will ramp up after nearly 200 arrests

FOX 5 learned exclusively on Thursday that immigration enforcement and arrests will continue in the District of Columbia. That's according to the head of ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations for the Washington Field Office, Russell Hott.

WASHINGTON - FOX 5 learned exclusively on Thursday that immigration enforcement and arrests will continue in the District of Columbia. That's according to the head of ICE's Enforcement Removal Operations for the Washington Field Office, Russell Hott.

"These are not raids, these are not roundups, this a very acute precision effort focused on the worst first," Hott said.

Dig deeper:

Last week, FOX 5 reported extensively about a massive enforcement effort that ran from May 6 to May 9 and netted 189 arrests. Eight of those were on criminal warrants, 181 arrests on administrative charges.

Now, we're learning those people in the United States illegally from places like El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Eastern Europe and Canada, according to Hott also had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

Hott said the charges range from driving while intoxicated and drug possession or trafficking, embezzlement, larceny, robbery to sexual assault, kidnapping, even homicide.

For example, Hott said 17 people taken into custody had assault charges, while three had domestic violence cases.

"It was a plethora of individuals that presented some significant public safety threats to our community," Hott said.

And he said these arrests came as a result of long-term and data-driven intelligence by federal officials and with a lack of cooperation from local law enforcement.

"In spite of our constant requests and pleas to protect our communities and work together with our law enforcement partners in D.C., we continue to see those individuals released to the streets where they have the opportunity to re-offend," Hott said.

Big picture view:

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Police officials have repeatedly made clear they will not assist ICE agents with enforcement.

One thing to make clear is that Homeland Security Investigators, who are part of ICE, served 189 notices of inspection to restaurants and businesses across D.C. throughout this operation as well but no one was arrested as part of that enforcement.

Employers were simply asked to provide I-9 employment verification forms, which prove people can work legally in the U.S.

What we know:

So where are all of the people arrested?

The ones who had criminal warrants are in the custody of U.S. Marshals, Hott said.

People who have never had any encounters with immigration officials before but are in the country illegally or have pending charges will get due process and a date with a judge but are being detained in ICE facilities in the meantime.

And those who have criminal histories - Hott said there are efforts underway to deport them back to their home countries.

The Brief