ICE Arrests Over 1,300 In Two-Week Immigration Operation In Virginia, Maryland

The operation, known as Operation Safe Community, Washington, D.C., ran from August 1 to August 14 and resulted in nearly 100 arrests a day across the two states. Almost 400 of those arrested had either been convicted of or charged with crimes in the United States, according to DHS.

The arrests included people with criminal records involving offenses such as kidnapping, attempted murder, sexual assault, robbery, identity theft, drunken driving and hit-and-run, according to federal authorities. DHS also said ICE arrested members of transnational gangs including MS-13, 18th Street and Tren de Aragua.

Among those arrested was a Salvadoran national who authorities said was wanted in Richmond, Virginia, on a murder warrant. Federal officials described the operation as one of ICE's most successful recent enforcement efforts.

However, the DHS figures also show that more than half of those arrested were not identified as having been convicted of or charged with a crime in the United States. NBC Washington noted that almost 400 of the 1,328 arrests involved people with criminal convictions or charges.

The operation comes as the Trump administration has significantly expanded immigration enforcement and deportation efforts across the United States. Federal immigration arrests in the Washington region have risen sharply during President Donald Trump's second term, with earlier federal data showing that a majority of people arrested in the broader D.C., Maryland and Virginia area had no prior criminal record.

DHS said the latest operation was conducted despite sanctuary policies in some jurisdictions in Virginia and Maryland. The department has presented the campaign as part of a broader effort to remove people it says are in the country unlawfully, particularly those with criminal records.

The scale of the operation underscores the administration's continuing focus on immigration enforcement in and around the U.S. capital, while the distinction between people with criminal convictions and those without criminal records remains a central issue in the wider debate over the government's immigration policy.

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