DHS spox touts ‘major success’ in Florida after nabbing nearly 800 illegals in 4 days

Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin described the arrest records of some illegal immigrants arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of “a large-scale operation” during a Saturday evening appearance on Fox News.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement carried out Operation Tidal Wave in Florida, arresting nearly 800 illegal immigrants during the four-day operation, according to a post on X by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin. McLaughlin said the sweep was a “preview” of additional operations.

“This was a major success, it was a large-scale operation. And to your point, this is a preview of what is to come throughout the nation,” McLaughlin said. “We have partnerships under 287(g) authorities that Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem signed, and this empowers state and local law enforcement to actually be able to use their enforcement authority to carry out immigration enforcement.”

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Section 287(g) was enacted in 1996 and allows ICE to delegate certain functions to state and local law enforcement agencies, according to ICE’s website.

“What that means is they can actually make arrests and clean up our streets, get these criminal aliens off our streets,” McLaughlin said. “So, like you said, almost 800 aliens including MS-13 gang members, convicted murderers, rapists, all of these people are now off of our streets who otherwise have been acting with impunity and terrorizing U.S. communities. You are going to be seeing this throughout the country, and I think that Americans are going to be really thrilled with the results under this administration in the next 100 days.”

Among the illegal immigrants arrested were Ramon Ciro Castaneda and Carlos Perez-Perez, members of the Venezuelan prison Tren de Aragua (TdA), and each under a “Final Order of Removal,” according to summaries provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation by the Department of Homeland Security.

“This success and massive operation is a window into what is to come throughout the country for the next 100 days of the Trump administration,” McLaughlin told the DCNF when reached for comment. “Our state and local law enforcement are heroes as we execute on the president’s mandate to secure the border, remove illegal aliens, and make America safe.”

President Donald Trump issued multiple executive orders to address border security and illegal immigration upon taking office Jan. 20, including designating Mexican drug cartels, TdA and the Salvadoran gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations, while invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up the deportation of members of the two gangs on March 15.

McLaughlin also commented on the Friday arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on obstruction charges after she allegedly misdirected ICE agents seeking to arrest an illegal immigrant who had a hearing before her on April 18 before escorting the illegal immigrant out through a back door.

“This is just beyond the pale. I mean, take the Wisconsin judge. The fact she let this individual, this illegal alien. American people should know the charges against him more. Strangulation, suffocation, battery, other domestic abuse charges. This is no innocent guy,” McLaughlin said. “As far as the New Mexico case, it went beyond just harboring this member of Tren de Aragua.”

“The wife and that judge went so far as to destroy evidence, including two photos on this criminal illegal alien’s phone that showed decapitated individuals, he was sending that around,” McLaughlin continued. “They went so far as to take a hammer and destroy this phone so that police couldn’t access this. We are going to continue to go after these activist judges, especially in such egregious cases like this.”

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