ICE Arrests 100 Immigrants in Southern California and Warns That Hundreds More Are Under Threat

Immigration agents in Southern California have arrested more 100 undocumented immigrants in an operation that began on Sunday—and it appears the sweep is far from over.

ICE spokesperson Sarah Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Daily News on Wednesday that the agency’s Los Angeles-area team is targeting about 400 people across seven counties in Southern California. That would mean that an additional 300 people are in ICE’s crosshairs.

In a statement sent to Splinter and other outlets, ICE said that it would provide no additional information about the operation because it “remains ongoing.” (It did, however, provide links to videos and photos of the sweep.)

It is highly unusual for ICE officials to comment on ongoing immigration raid operations before they are completed—even when locals shared videos of ICE agents conducting raids.

In Los Angeles this past week, people have also shared videos and updates on social media with news of where the raids are taking place.

ICE officials said in the statement that they are focusing on “individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”

But they also warned that they’d go after any undocumented person they came across. “All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States,” the statement read.

ICE also made one of its now-routine threats against cities that it feels do not help it round up immigrants enough, blaming local “uncooperative jurisdictions” for making it “focus additional resources to conduct at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and the aliens at risk and increasing the incidents of collateral arrests.”