Immigration and Customs Enforcement is intensifying its enforcement efforts to remove illegal immigrants with criminal records from the streets of sanctuary cities — with or without the cooperation of local governments — before they can commit additional crimes.

According to an internal ICE email obtained exclusively by the Times, leadership has requested at least 500 special agents to participate in an effort to “flood the streets” as part of the campaign dubbed, ‘Operation Palladium.’

“It should be really no surprise, it’s exactly what we said we would do,” Henry Lucero, Executive Associate Director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations told the Times. “If there’s no cooperation, that’s not going to stop ICE from doing its job. We are still going to try to protect the public as much as we can by arresting and removing criminal aliens from the communities before they can get another crime or make another victim.”

Acting ICE Director Matthew Albence confirmed the cooperation to The Hill in February, saying in a statement that in "jurisdictions where we are not allowed to assume custody" of immigrants from jail, their immigration officers were "forced to make at-large arrests" of immigrants who had been "released into communities."

"When sanctuary cities release these criminals back to the street, it increases the occurrence of preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims," he said.

This is your daily reminder that New York City released an illegal alien charged with the rape of a 13 year old girl



Their Sanctuary City policy kept him from being turned over to ICE



This is exactly what Trump was elected to fix



RT if NYC should be defunded over this! — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 7, 2020

ICE defies sanctuary law to arrest illegal immigrant at San Francisco courthouse - Washington Times https://t.co/oPgdQqHRMe — maurice dwayne smith (@lightninfrog) March 8, 2020