Six-day nationwide sweep leads to arrest of more than 3,100 criminal aliens and fugitives

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said on Monday it arrested more than 3,100 immigrants who were illegally in the country and who were convicted of serious crimes or otherwise considered fugitives or threats to national security. It was part of a six-day nationwide sweep that the government described as the largest of its kind.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the sweep included every state and involved more than 1,900 of the agency’s officers and agents.

The sweep comes nearly a year after ICE pledged to focus on deporting illegal immigrants with serious criminal histories and those who posed national security threats, while going easier on many who stay out of trouble. The agency’s director, John Morton, said the arrests underscored that focus.

“There are 3,168 fewer criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators in our neighborhoods,” Morton said.

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