STEALTH RAIDS: ICE's Operation Safe Community arrests 1,328 illegal aliens in VA, MD in just 2 weeks

ICE quietly arrested 1,328 illegal alien offenders during a 2-week enforcement operation across Virginia and Maryland, the Department of Homeland Security announced on Monday. The operation dubbed "Operation Safe Community – Washington, D.C.," ran from August 1 through August 14 and focused on the suburbs of Washington, DC in Virginia and Maryland.

According to DHS, nearly 400 of those arrested had either been convicted of or charged with crimes in the United States. Those arrested included people with convictions for sexual battery, kidnapping, driving while intoxicated, hit-and-run, identity theft, and robbery, as well as individuals arrested for murder, attempted murder, and rape.

ICE also arrested alleged members of MS-13, the 18th Street Gang, and Tren de Aragua during the operation.

"The brave men and women of ICE are hard at work every single day getting these dangerous illegal aliens out of our country. Over the course of just two weeks in Virginia and Maryland, they arrested sexual assailants, kidnappers, drunk drivers, robbers, and gang members," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. "While sanctuary politicians in Virginia and Maryland keep putting the needs of illegal aliens over the safety of the American people, the Trump Administration will always put American citizens first. By arresting and removing illegal aliens from our communities, we will make America safe again."

Among those arrested was Eygner Wilfredo Huezo-Moran, an illegal alien from El Salvador wanted on warrants for murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder in Richmond, Virginia. ICE officers and US Marshals arrested him in Chesterfield before turning him over to local authorities.

Other arrests included Angel Gabriel Ortiz-Hernandez, an illegal alien from Guatemala whose history includes arrests for rape of a mentally incapacitated victim and two counts of aggravated sexual battery of an incapacitated victim, according to DHS.

"Once again, our officers are out in the streets arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from American communities - this time in the Washington, D.C. area," said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Assistant Director Patricia Hyde. "Our officers are the best in the world at finding people who do not want to be located. That’s exactly what we did throughout the course of this operation. Removing these criminal alien offenders from Virginia and Maryland neighborhoods makes for much safer communities, and that is exactly what the men and women of ICE work to accomplish every day across our great nation."

The operation comes after a similar ICE operation in Georgia in July, where officers arrested more than 1,200 illegal alien offenders.