Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents have arrested 87 immigrants in the Reno and Las Vegas areas during an operation that took place over the last 5 days.  ICE Agents indicated the targeted individuals are undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to public safety.  Of those arrested, 22 were in the Reno area, and reportedly included individuals with prior convictions that included drug trafficking, DUI and domestic violence, as well as robbery and resisting arrest.  ICE officials refused to release the identifications of those arrested, citing Privacy Act restrictions on “administrative arrests.”  Most the Reno arrested individuals will likely be transferred to Las Vegas where they will have immigration hearings that determine whether they will face deportation back to their countries of origin.

Officials said 85 percent of the detained individuals met ICE’s priority 1 and priority 2 targets, indicating they have a prior felony conviction, are a terrorism threat, have a series of misdemeanor convictions, or they recently entered the United States illegally.  The other 15 percent of the arrested individuals were priority 3 targets, who are considered the “lowest priority for apprehension and removal.”  Officials said that some of the priority 3 targets are serial visa abusers, or became an automatic priority target because they entered the country illegally recently.  If you have any friends or family members who have been targeted by ICE please don’t hesitate to contact our office.