Atlanta, Georgia - During a five-day targeted enforcement surge in Georgia, officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 60 convicted criminal aliens.

The arrests, made from June 14 through June 18, were made in metropolitan Atlanta, in the Augusta area and in northwest Georgia. Of the 60 taken into custody by ERO, 17 met the agency’s highest priority level due to felony convictions or participation in a criminal street gang. An additional 43 arrestees met the second level of priorities for enforcement due to serious or multiple misdemeanor convictions.

Many of the criminal aliens taken into custody had prior convictions for serious or violent offenses including: aggravated assault, battery, DUI, and significant drug possession convictions.

"The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE's ongoing commitment to public safety and the enforcement of priorities set by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson in November 2014," said Corey Price, acting field office director of ERO Atlanta. "When we focus on the arrest and removal of convicted criminal aliens we contribute immediately by making our communities safer. Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers – along with our state and local law enforcement partners – there are 60 fewer criminal aliens in our neighborhoods."

The arrested aliens came from Antigua, Belize, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Romania, South Korea and Thailand.

All 60 were arrested administratively for being in violation of immigration law, and all are being held in ICE custody pending immigration removal proceedings or removal from the United States.

Some of those arrested during this operation include:

• A Mexican male convicted of aggravated assault in 2013,
• An El Salvadoran male convicted of possession of cocaine in 2004, and
• A Honduran male convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in 2001 and possession of a firearm during the commission of or attempt to commit a felony in 2007.

In fiscal year 2014, ICE conducted 315,943 removals nationwide. Eighty-five percent of individuals removed from the interior of the United States had previously been convicted of a criminal offense.