NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says officers from its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) have arrested a number of Caribbean immigrants among 114 foreign nationals arrested during an 11-day operation in New York targeting at-large criminal immigrants, illegal re-entrants and immigration fugitives.

On Wednesday the arrestees  – 104 men and 10 included nationals from 35 countries of those arrested there was one person from Barbados, 15 from the Dominica Republic, one from Grenada, five from Haiti, eight from Jamaica and three from Trinidad and Tobago.

ICE said of those arrested during the enforcement action, which ended Saturday, 82 had criminal histories, including prior convictions for sex crimes, drug offenses and fraud.

Fifteen have pending criminal charges, including assault, larceny and sexual exploitation of a minor; and 37 individuals have final orders of removal.

Others taken into custody during the operation included an unidentified Jamaican national arrested in the Queens section of New York with a prior conviction of forcible touching, robbery in the first degree and act in manner to injure a child less than 17.

ICE said the operation “targeted criminal aliens who pose a public safety threat and individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who re-entered the country after being deported and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.”

Thomas Decker, field office director for ERO New York, said “our nation has a proud history of immigration, but we are also a nation governed by laws specifically designed to protect its citizens and residents.

“ERO deportation officers are committed to enforcing the immigration laws set forth by our legislators,” he said. “Of those arrested during this operation, nine were released from New York custody with an active detainer, which poses an increased risk to the officers and the community.

“Regardless of politics, ICE will be diligent in its responsibility to find those who come to the United States to prey upon our communities and ultimately return them to their home countries,” he added.

ICE said 11 of the individuals arrested during the enforcement action will be presented for US federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Those not being criminally prosecuted will be processed for removal from the country, ICE said, adding that individuals who have outstanding orders of removal, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country.

ICE said while Queens and Manhattan accounted for the largest number of arrests during the operation, ERO personnel conducted enforcement actions in a total of 12 communities.