ICE operation targeting public safety threats nets 132 arrests in DC, VA

WASHINGTON – On Friday, officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington Field Office concluded Eagle’s Shield, an enforcement operation targeting notable threats to public safety throughout Virginia and Washington, D.C. that resulted in the arrests of 132 individuals on criminal and civil violations. ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office all provided assistance with the operation.

Operation Eagle’s Shield leveraged field office resources to identify priority targets for enforcement action throughout Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area. From July 9 to 20, officers from the ERO Washington Field Office targeted and arrested various violent offenders, gang members, sex offenders, fugitives from justice, and those who otherwise pose a significant public safety threat. Arrestees include members of several different notoriously violent transnational criminal organizations such as MS-13 and18th Street gangs.

“We set out to locate and detain known, dangerous criminal aliens who are hiding and operating in the neighborhoods we call home,” said ERO Washington field office director Russell Hott. “Today’s announcement is the result of the absolutely essential work our ICE officers perform to identify the worst of the worst and ensure they have no refuge here.” 

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