Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced the arrest of 78 criminal illegals during a five-state sweep through the Midwest, a report says.

“Iowa and Nebraska each saw 25 arrests, while there were 15 arrests in Minnesota, 10 in South Dakota and three in North Dakota.,” Fox News reported.

“This operation targeted criminal aliens, public safety threats, and individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws,” ICE official Peter Berg said in a May 15 statement. “Operations like this reflect the vital work our ERO officers do every day to protect our communities, uphold public safety and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls. We will continue to devote the full efforts of our agency to protecting citizens and enforcing federal immigration law. Communities across the upper Midwest are safer today because of the hard work of the men and women of ERO.”

62 of those arrested had serious criminal records:

Most of the aliens arrested by ERO deportation officers during this operation had prior criminal histories that included convictions for the following crimes: assault, arson, rape, sex assault on a child, solicitation of a child, domestic assault against a child, prostitution-hiring a child age 13-16, felony theft, felony forgery, prostitution, manufacturing false documents, identity theft, hit and run, distributing a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated (DUI), drug possession, indecent exposure, domestic assault, illegal sale of a weapon, criminal impersonation, possessing drugs with intent to sell, burglary, malicious prosecution, illegal re-entry after deportation and witness intimidation.

Some of the illegals arrested have also been deported several times each.

Most of those arrested were from Mexico, but illegals from several other nations were also present in the case including people from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, the Ivory Coast and Sudan, ICE reported.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston