Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the state of Florida have teamed up to apprehend more than 150 illegal migrant sexual predators, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Noem said the joint crackdown, officially titled “Operation Criminal Return” and nicknamed “Operation Dirtbag,” swept up more than 230 criminal illegal aliens statewide.
Their rap sheets include attempted premeditated murder with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, lewd and lascivious molestation of children, and a host of narcotics and burglary offenses.
More than 150 illegal alien sexual predators were among those arrested.
“These individuals should have never been in our country to begin with,” Noem told Fox News, stressing that many of those taken into custody had prior convictions for child molestation and sexual assault and had been allowed to remain in the U.S. despite their records.
Noem praised Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as critical partners, calling the Florida model one she wants to replicate nationwide.
“These 150 individuals will be gone off of our streets. Our kids will be safer,” she said, arguing that aggressive interior enforcement is the only way to protect American families from predators who exploited the nation’s broken border and lax sanctuary policies, the New York Post reported.
DHS has highlighted several recent removals to underscore the stakes. Among them:
– David Caridad-Rodan, an illegal alien from Cuba convicted in Miami-Dade County of lewd and lascivious and unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
– Oscar Alfredo Retana Marroquin, from El Salvador, previously convicted of sexual assault of a child.
– Arturo Sanchez Morales, from Mexico, convicted of lewd acts with a minor and incest, in addition to DUI offenses.
All were identified by ICE as “the worst of the worst” and targeted for arrest and removal.
Conservatives say the Florida results prove what happens when federal authorities coordinate with tough-on-crime governors instead of being handcuffed by sanctuary laws.
While DeSantis has welcomed ICE’s presence, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have fought the Trump administration’s separate “Operation Midway Blitz” crackdown in Chicago, attacking Noem and labeling the effort “un-American,” the Washington Post reported.
Trump and DHS point to sharp crime drops in Chicago since the surge of federal agents — including a reported 41% decline in robberies and 35% drop in shootings — as proof that targeting criminal illegal aliens and repeat offenders works, the Post reported.
Noem has brushed off Democrat criticism, arguing that blue-state leaders are more interested in scoring political points than stopping predators.
She vowed to keep expanding ICE operations into other sanctuary jurisdictions that, in her words, “advertise themselves as safe havens for criminal illegal aliens,” according to a DHS release.
Newsmax Wires contributed to this report.
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