Federal, state agents arrest nearly 200 illegal immigrants in New England

BOSTON – Dozens of illegal immigrants across New England who were ordered deported for committing crimes have been rounded up by federal agents in an undercover operation carried out over the past six days, federal authorities told The Associated Press.

Starting last Friday, dozens of federal, state and local law-enforcement officers fanned out across New England to search for roughly 200 people convicted of a variety of crimes and have been ordered deported.

By Wednesday afternoon, they had arrested at least 187 illegal immigrants, including one in Maine. Eighty-five of those were among the targets. An additional 60 illegal immigrants without criminal records who have been ordered deported for other reasons were also arrested. Officers made an additional 42 “collateral” arrests of people who haven’t yet been ordered to leave the country but are here illegally.

The operation, which was to be discussed Thursday at a news conference in Boston, is believed to be the largest of its kind ever staged by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regional field office, said Bruce Chadbourne, ICE’s New England field director.

The Homeland Security agency, created in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks, considers the sweep a chance to protect residents from neighborhood crime as well as to improve national security.

“American citizens are far more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in their own community than a victim of a terrorist attack,” Chadbourne said.

The illegal immigrants arrested in this week’s sweep, called Operation FLASH, were convicted of a wide range of crimes, including attempted murder, rape, child molestation and arson.