Megan Diskin

Ventura County (Calif.) Star

VENTURA, Calif. — Immigration authorities arrested nearly 200 people during a five-day raid in Southern California, authorities announced Thursday.

Almost 90% of those arrested had prior criminal convictions, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

The 188 arrests were made Saturday through Wednesday by immigratofficers who were targeting "public safety threats," including "at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives," the federal agency said Thursday in a news release.

The crackdown occurred in San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and Ventura counties.

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Nationals from Armenia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam and Yugoslavia and were apprehended, authorities said.

There were 177 men and 11 women taken into custody. Of those arrested, 169 had prior criminal convictions for drug offenses, DUI, domestic violence, sex crimes, battery, weapons violations, assault, burglary, fraud, vehicle theft, arson, cruelty to a child, robbery, obstructing justice, property damage, larceny, escape, manslaughter, prostitution, trespassing, incest, receipt of stolen property and illegal entry or re-entry, authorities said.

“Operations like this are emblematic of the vital work ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers do every day seeking to locate, arrest, and ultimately deport at-large convicted criminals and other immigration fugitives who pose a threat to public safety,” said David Marin, field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in Los Angeles. “By taking these individuals off the streets and removing them from the country, we’re making our communities safer for everyone.”

The operation was part of a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration since President Trump signed executive orders in January making enforcement a priority, authorities said. Immigrant advocates have decried many of the arrests, especially those of immigrants without criminal histories.

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At least eight of those arrested in the recent operation now face federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, ICE said.

Those not being criminally prosecuted will be processed for removal from the country, according to the agency. Those with outstanding orders of deportation or who returned to the U.S. illegally after being deported are subject to immediate removal from the country, the agency said.

The agency said those apprehended included a 29-year-old Salvadoran convicted of rape in the state who was deported in 2013 after serving a nine-year prison term, but later returned to the U.S. illegally.

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Megan Diskin on Twitter: @megandiskin