More than two dozen parolees — suspected of living in the country illegally — were arrested in Texas over the weekend as they reported for work-detail sentences for various crimes, authorities said.
At least 26 people were taken into custody Sunday morning at the request of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to police.
Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn told local media outlets that his office took part in the roundup after being instructed to do so a little over a week ago.
Officials said the undocumented immigrants were detained at the Cold Springs Road work detail facility. They all have convictions for high-level misdemeanors and low-level felonies.
“This was totally initiated by ICE,” Waybourn told NBC5. “They came to us and said, ‘Listen, we reviewed the list (of names) and we suspect some of them are illegal aliens.’ So we said, ‘Whatever you need to do.’”
Those who were arrested Sunday reportedly were frisked, escorted to a bus and transported to an ICE facility in Dallas — where they were expected to be processed.
ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok confirmed the operation, but refused to give details.
“ICE routinely conducts immigration enforcement operations locally and nationwide which help improve overall public safety by removing criminal aliens from our communities, and ultimately from our country,” he said in a statement.
Authorities in North Texas have voiced their concern over the undocumented immigrants living in the area and vowed to do something about those convicted of crimes.
After taking office in Tarrant County, Waybourn applied to take part in a federal program — training local jailers to screen for illegal immigrants. At least two ICE agents currently work at their jail, the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph reports.
“If someone gets booked into jail Friday night and bonds out on Saturday, ICE never has a chance to screen them,” David McClelland, Waybourn’s chief of staff, told the newspaper. “I don’t believe the people detained were ever screened by ICE when they came into our jail.”
Fort Worth-based immigration attorney Nicolas Chavez told the Associated Press he felt Sunday’s bust could wind up having a “chilling effect” on immigrants — especially if they want to comply with the terms of their jail sentences, but are worried about being busted by the feds.
Local activists also blasted ICE for making the arrests just as the alleged illegals were reporting for work detail.
“These individuals were following the law by showing up to do their community service,” local activist and child tutor Anita Quinones told the Star-Telegram.
“In the act of doing the right thing, they were rounded up like cattle,” she said. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
Maria Robles, a bilingual organizer with North Texas group Faith, added: “This type of collaboration is what tears at the relationship and trust between our community and law enforcement … Unfortunately in these types of situations, there is little or nothing that can be done in the moment, but there is plenty of room to empower our community with helping them recognize they too have rights under our Constitution regardless of immigration status.”
With Post wires
