In just the third week of March, federal authorities representing districts along the United States’ southern border charged over 840 illegal immigrants with immigration-related crimes as part of Operation Take Back America.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that it is playing an important role in the operation, which is a nationwide effort to combat illegal immigration while also eradicating cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protecting communities from violent criminals.
Attorneys in Arizona, Texas, California, and New Mexico have charged over 840 people with violating US immigration laws.
Attorneys in Arizona filed immigration charges against 217 suspects. The United States filed 91 cases involving illegal re-entry and charged 103 immigrants with illegally entering the country.
The United States has also filed 15 cases against 23 people accused of smuggling illegal immigrants into the country through Arizona.
U.S. attorneys in Central California filed charges against 17 people accused of illegally reentering the United States after being deported, many of whom had previously been convicted of felony crimes, including assault.
The DOJ reported that one suspect is suspected of murder, while another was arrested for assault with intent to rape.
If an illegal immigrant returns to the United States after being removed, they could face up to two years in federal prison; however, if they are convicted of a felony and return, they could face ten to twenty years in federal prison.
According to the DOJ, the Southern District of California filed more than 90 border-related cases, including transporting illegal aliens into the United States, bringing immigrants into the country for financial gain, re-entering the country after being deported, and importing controlled substances.
46 people were charged with re-entering the United States in New Mexico, four with alien smuggling, and 27 with illegal entry.
Texas had the highest number of charges filed against illegal aliens, with 246 in the Southern District and 210 in the Western District.
“We are grateful for the hard work of our border prosecutors in bringing these cases and helping to make our border safe again,” the Attorney General’s office stated.
As part of Operation Take Back America in Kentucky, 81 illegal aliens were arrested last week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and other federal law enforcement officials.
ICE and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are close to reaching an agreement that would grant ICE access to taxpayer information in order to locate illegal immigrants facing deportation.
According to the Washington Post, the historic agreement would allow ICE to submit the names and addresses of illegal immigrants for cross-checking against IRS tax records, a departure from longstanding IRS policy of keeping taxpayer information strictly confidential.
The news comes as President Donald Trump has continued to ramp up the deportation effort he promised during the campaign, attempting to use every available resource to assist immigration officials.
