US authorities have arrested 326 criminal aliens and immigration status violators, including Indians in a weeklong crackdown called 'Operation Return to Sender'.
The arrested aliens also included citizens from Pakistan, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia.
Some of the apprehended aliens had allegedly committed crimes such as homicide, aggravated sexual assault of minors, and robbery, assault, human smuggling, narcotics trafficking.
Of those arrested during the local operation, 30 were fugitive criminals with final orders of deportation, 89 were non-criminal fugitives with final orders of deportation and 17 are illegal aliens with criminal convictions. The rest were immigration violators.
Return to Sender is an ongoing nationwide initiative by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. The local operation in Houston ended on Monday.
The ICE has already deported 142 of these individuals to their home countries.
"Criminal aliens are a threat to the safety of our children, families, community and our nation," said Kenneth L Landgrebe, field office director for the ICE Detention and Removal Operations office in Houston.
The operation is part of ICE's ongoing process of targeting aliens who had received final orders of removal from a federal immigration judge.
{{/usCountry}}The operation is part of ICE's ongoing process of targeting aliens who had received final orders of removal from a federal immigration judge.
{{/usCountry}}By the end of September, a total of 52 Fugitive Operations teams are scheduled to be operational nationwide.
The 45 Fugitive Operations teams currently in existence are collectively apprehending more than 1,000 illegal aliens per week.