ICE cracks down on DC-area businesses, nearly 200 illegal immigrants arrested

Federal immigration authorities arrested nearly 200 illegal immigrants last week during a four-day operation targeting businesses across Washington, D.C.

The operation, which unfolded between May 6 to May 9, "targeted criminal alien offenders including members of transnational criminal organizations known to operate in and around Washington, D.C.," including "the notorious MS-13, Tren de Aragua and 18th Street gangs," according to ICE. A total of 189 people were arrested and agents "served notices of inspection to 187 local businesses," ICE added.

"The District of Columbia is exponentially safer today because of countless hours of investigative work and dedication to duty displayed by ICE Washington, D.C. and our law enforcement partners," said Russell Hott, the director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C., Field Office. 

"Throughout this enhanced enforcement operation, we targeted the most dangerous alien offenders in some of the most crime-infested neighborhoods in the city of Washington, D.C. Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid," he added. "ICE Washington, D.C. remains dedicated to our mission of prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing criminal offenders from our nation’s capital and surrounding communities."

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Fox5 DC reported that federal agents visited local restaurants and other establishments verifying I-9 employment forms proving that the staff are legally authorized to work in the U.S. 

ICE and Homeland Security Investigators worked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the FBI, the ATF, the DEA, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service in the operation.

ICE added that many of the apprehensions were made "after local jurisdictions refused to honor immigration detainers and released the alien offenders back into their communities."

They included "a 47-year-old illegally present Guatemalan alien whose criminal history includes drug possession, illegal reentry, aggravated assault, trespassing, disorderly conduct and sexual assault" and "a 25-year-old illegally present Guatemalan alien whose criminal history includes threat to kidnap, attempted possession of a prohibited weapon, threats to bodily harm and simple assault," according to ICE.

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Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin applauded the effort.

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"Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and this administration’s focus on law and order, these arrests mark a major step toward making Washington, D.C., safer for law-abiding citizens and their families," Martin said. "They send a clear message: violating our nation’s immigration laws will not be ignored."

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital, but Bowser said last week she was "disturbed" to hear about reports of arrests, according to Fox5 DC.

"It appears as though ICE is at restaurants, or even at neighborhoods, and it doesn’t look like they’re targeting criminals, and it does look like they’re disrupting," Bowser said.