Story highlights DHS Secretary Kelly once again emphasized that the operations were "routine"

Advocates have raised concerns that last week's actions went after a much wider group of immigrants

Washington (CNN) A series of immigration enforcement operations around the country netted more than 680 arrests, mostly criminals, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement initially confirmed the five-day operations, which critics described as raids, Friday, saying they were a set of targeted enforcement actions much like those they had conducted periodically under the previous administration.

But immigration advocates and Democratic politicians who represented the areas affected had questioned the activities -- saying they were going beyond the Obama administration in targeting non-threatening individuals and scaring communities with public arrests.

In a statement Monday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly once again emphasized that the operations were "routine."

He said the operations targeted convicted criminals, gang members, individuals who re-entered the country after being deported and individuals who had final removal orders from immigration judges.

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