Showing that criminal illegal immigrants can't hide in the the nation's 300 so-called sanctuary cities, federal immigration agents announced Thursday that they arrested nearly 500 in some of the biggest cities that refuse to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In a stinging rebuke of cities like Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, officials said they took in 498 criminal illegals. Those with long rap sheets were prioritized and those in the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals were ignored.

ICE dubbed the raid "Operation Safe City." The arrests occurred over four days.

"Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration," said ICE Acting Director Tom Homan. "As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities."

Some 104 of those arrested have been deported previously and 18 are gang members.

Since the administration announced plans to crack down on sanctuary cities, many like New York, Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco have doubled down on their policy of not contacting ICE when they arrest an illegal fugitive.

Homan recently told Secrets that as a result, he has to send more agents to those cities to track down the illegals. He said it is far more dangerous for agents to track the fugitives in neighborhoods than at a well-protected jail where they typically get them in non-sanctuary cities.

"ICE's goal is to build cooperative, respectful relationships with our law enforcement partners to help prevent dangerous criminal aliens from being released back onto the streets. Non-cooperation policies severely undermine that effort at the expense of public safety," he said.

The arrest count:

Operation Safe City arrests took place in Baltimore (28), Cook County, Illinois (30), Denver (63), Los Angeles (101), New York (45), Philadelphia (107), Portland, Ore. (33), Santa Clara County, Calif (27); and Washington, D.C. (14) and the state of Massachusetts (50).

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com