Sixty-three people living in the metro area were apprehended this week by federal immigration authorities in an operation where ICE said it targeted cities that deny its agents access to jails.

ICE announced the arrests Thursday, saying 498 people from 42 countries were swept up in “Operation Safe City.” The agency’s news release specifically states the arrests took place in cities where ICE deportation officers are not allowed access to jails to interview people and in jurisdictions where ICE detainers are not honored.

The operation indicates that ICE considers Denver to be a sanctuary city despite efforts by Mayor Michael Hancock to find middle ground when it comes to protecting immigrant residents and cooperating with federal immigration agents.

In August, Hancock worked out a compromise with City Council members, who were pushing for a more defiant stance against ICE and promoting creation of a city immigration ordinance. Hancock said he did not want to entice the White House to step up immigration arrests in Denver.

Under the ordinance, the Denver Sheriff Department continues to notify federal immigration authorities when it is about to release immigrants who are wanted on a detainer. However, the sheriff’s department will not hold inmates wanted on a detainer past their normal release time just because ICE has a detainer.

The department also does not allow ICE agents to interview inmates at the city’s two jails unless those agents have an arrest warrant.

Jenna Espinoza, a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office, said city officials, including leaders at the Denver Police Department, were not aware of the ICE arrests until they saw the news release. She did not want to comment further on the ICE operation.

Denver is in a tough spot, said Aaron Hall, an immigration attorney with Joseph Law Firm of Aurora, which specializes in immigration law.

The city does not honor immigration detainers because federal courts repeatedly have ruled that jails cannot hold people longer than necessary solely because an immigration detainer exists, he said. And because Denver doesn’t hold immigrants wanted by ICE unless there is an arrest warrant, it has become a target of the agency.

“When a jail or a sheriff’s office gets sued it’s not ICE on the hook for damages, it’s the local sheriff’s office,” Hall said.

In a news release, ICE acting director Tom Homan said, “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. As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”

Arrests also took place in Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Cook County, Ill., Portland, Ore., and Santa Clara County, Calif., the news release said.

Carl Rusnok, an ICE spokesman in Dallas, said there is no true definition of a sanctuary city so he would not use that word to describe ICE’s position toward Denver.

“But Denver is one of those cities that expressly has said it won’t honor ICE detainers,” Rusnok said.

ICE did not release the names of individuals arrested nor did it provide a list of specific violations for people arrested in each jurisdiction.

The lone Denver arrestee mentioned in the news release was an unnamed Guatemalan who was living in the United States with lawful permanent legal status but who had been convicted of felony menacing, six DUIs, child abuse, assault and domestic violence harassment.

Upon The Denver Post’s request, ICE provided more information about its arrests in Colorado.

Of the 63 arrested in the metro area, 54 were criminals and nine had no criminal convictions, Rusnok said. Seven were fugitives, 17 illegally had re-entered the United States after being deported, and 39 were considered to be at-large.

Rusnok also offered details on six other arrests, including a 58-year-old citizen of Laos who came to the United States legally in 1980 but had been convicted in 2015 of weapon possession and assault. His other convictions included felony theft, motor vehicle theft and drug possession. He had been released from custody before ICE could take action and was arrested in Longmont.

Five of the people arrested were Mexicans who ranged in age from 40 to 60. They were captured in Aurora, Boulder, Denver and Loveland. Three of them had been convicted or charged with child sex assault, and two had multiple DUIs.

One man had been deported and illegally re-entered the United States this year only to be charged with child sexual assault and then released on bond, Rusnok said. A 43-year-old arrested in Aurora had been convicted of sex assault on a child, and a 47-year-old arrested in Boulder also faces child sex assault charges. Two others had multiple DUIs, and one was a 58-year-old member of the MS-13 street gang who had a lengthy criminal record, according to information provided by Rusnok.

Of the 498 people arrested nationally, 317 had criminal convictions, 68 are immigration fugitives, 104 were previously deported and 18 were tied to gangs, the news release said.

Cesar Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, an associate professor at the Denver University Sturm College of Law, said ICE continues to inject itself into disputes with local officials over immigration enforcement.

“They expect elected officials to do exactly what they want them to do,” said Garcia Hernandez, who writes the crimimmigration.com blog.

With ICE essentially calling Denver a sanctuary city, there’s really no reason to continue to try to walk a middle line, Hall said.

“There’s no textbook definition of what a sanctuary city is,” Hall said. “By trying to walk the line, you just don’t know where ICE is going to come down on it. The City Council and mayor might as well do what they think is best and let the chips fall where they may.”