by Jason Hopkins
Federal immigration authorities in Florida last week detained more than a dozen undocumented immigrants who were convicted or charged with crimes while in a program that allowed them to remain freely in the U.S. despite crossing the border illegally.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 18 undocumented immigrants during a week-long raid dubbed “Operation Drumbeat,” According to agency press release. The operation, which was carried out in cooperation with Border Patrol agents, resulted in the arrest of foreign nationals accused or convicted of a range of heinous crimes, including child abuse, extortion, assault, burglary and other offences.
“ERO is focused on smart and effective immigration enforcement, protecting citizens across Florida by arresting and removing individuals who challenge our immigration laws and pose a threat to the safety of our communities,” said Garrett Ripa, ERO Miami Field Office Director, of the operation.
“This [Alternatives to Detention] “The program is a privilege, and when noncitizens violate the terms of their release by breaking other laws, there are consequences,” Ripa continued.
Those arrested included a 34-year-old Honduran national convicted of assault, burglary and a felony offense; a 46-year-old Chinese national convicted of conspiracy, RICO violations and a weapons offense; and a 31-year-old Guatemalan national arrested for assault and child abuse, according to ICE. All of the foreign nationals involved in the operation are currently in agency custody.
“Operation Drumbeat was aimed at those foreigners who had the opportunity to take part in [Alternatives to Detention] but have violated the terms of the program by committing crimes or have been deemed a threat to public safety based on criminal convictions,” the press release reads.
Faced with a scourge of ICE detention centers that are close to or overflowing, federal immigration officials have broadly adopted Alternatives to detention (ATD), which allows asylum seekers to avoid detention and live freely in the U.S. by being monitored, typically through a GPS device, phone app, or other tracking devices.
While the program brought relief to detainees, it was not without controversy.
February 2023 DCNF Investigation found that the Biden administration had increased its reliance on a phone app that tracked the location of undocumented migrants only during certain hours, rather than relying on GPS monitoring that could track them most or all of the time. Several high-profile alleged alien offenders had used Alternatives to Detention, such as suspected terrorist Mohammad Kharwin, alleged killers Jocelyn Nungaray and the mother who tried hire a hitman to protect his murderer son.
A group of House Republicans sent a letter to ICE Associate Executive Director Daniel Bible in May, accusing the agency failure to properly track migrants enrolled in the program.
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Jason Hopkins is a reporter at the Daily Caller News Foundation.
