232 immigrant criminals off Georgia streets
A three-day federal sweep across the Southeast picked up nearly 600 immigrants, some illegal, some with papers and all with criminal records, authorities said Friday. Arrests in Georgia totaled 232. Communities statewide should be safer following the arrest of 223 immigrants with criminal records.
Operation Cross Check was the largest operation of its kind in the Southeast, netting 596 arrests, ICE officials said.
“The vast majority of those arrested in Atlanta had felony convictions and had served time,” said Barbara Gonzalez, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regional spokeswoman.
The sweep, being planned for two months, targeted both illegal residents and some lawful, permanent residents, Gonzalez said. But the crimes the suspects had committed make them deportable, even if they were in the country legally. Three of those arrested had murder convictions. A judge will now decide whether or not they may stay in the U.S.
More than fifty suspects were arrested in metro Atlanta, and about half that many were apprehended in northwest Georgia: Many of those arrested were in northwest Georgia, according to numbers obtained by the AJC, including 19 in Rome, five in Cartersville and three in Dalton. Cumming led metro Atlanta with 17 arrests; 14 were arrested in Decatur. Other t0tals: Jonesboro, six; Fayetteville, five; Marietta and Newnan, four each. There were nine in Warner Robins and seven in Columbus.
The suspects represent 60 nations, including countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, officials said. One of those arrested in Jonesboro Tuesday was identified as Oriel Bernard McCarthy, of Jamaica, who was recently charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
McCarthy was arrested in Jonesboro, and his criminal history includes convictions and arrests in four states, including New York, South Carolina, Maryland and Georgia, officials said.
Charges against McCarthy have included felony forgery, stalking, criminal domestic violence, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, aggravated assault, sexual abuse and forcible contact, possession of stolen property and robbery, officials said. He was ordered removed by an immigration judge on Oct. 21 in New York City.
“At the end of the day, our commitment is to make sure our communities are safe,” Gonzalez said.ICE officers and agents worked with the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and local law enforcement in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Puerto Rico.
