The 25 men and five women were arrested in Manatee and Hillsborough counties.
By Associated Press
Published July 12, 2003
BRADENTON - Thirty foreigners under deportation orders because of criminal records were arrested in a four-day sweep, federal officials said Friday.
One man should have been removed from the United States a decade ago, officials said.
The roundup is the sixth in Florida in recent months as part of a collaboration between the Department of Homeland Security and local police agencies to tighten enforcement of deportation orders. The 25 men and five women were arrested in Manatee and Hillsborough counties in a sweep that began Tuesday.
About half of those arrested have felony records. All were ordered to leave the United States by immigration judges because of criminal convictions. They didn't report for deportation.
Authorities would not identify those arrested, citing federal privacy protections. Their records include convictions for cocaine smuggling, child neglect, statutory rape and misdemeanor offenses. They are from 23 countries.
None areknown to be linked to terrorism, and none are a suspect in any new crimes, said Hector McKenna, supervisory detention officer in Miami for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The foreigners were at one point deemed by judges as safe to release on bail, but officials said their continued presence in the United States is a public safety issue because of their criminal pasts.
A total of 150 people have been arrested in the six Florida sweeps. Federal authorities estimate there are more than 400,000 fugitives from deportation orders nationwide.
