Illegal immigrants prepare to enter a bus after being processed at Tucson Sector in Arizona. (AP File Photo)

(CNSNews.com) - U.S. Border Patrol agents say they have detained an illegal alien who's racked up 37 criminal convictions in the United States.



"Due to the suspect’s numerous criminal convictions, he was processed for an Administrative Removal and will be removed to Mexico," said the announcement from Customs and Border Patrol.



Police in Rochester, N.Y. arrested the man on Saturday, July 20. They called the Border Patrol for assistance after the suspect gave three different names to a Rochester police officer.



Agents determined that the suspect was in the United States illegally, and a check of the database showed that he has 37 convictions, ranging from misdemeanors to felonies, on charges such as narcotics violations, assault on a federal officer, burglary and robbery.

A spokesman for the Buffalo CBP sector told CNSNews.com that the suspect's first conviction came in 1982; the most recent was in 2007. Border Patrol says it first learned of the man on Saturday.



Two years ago, the Obama administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) announced that it would focus its enforcement efforts on finding and removing illegal aliens who have broken criminal laws in this country.



Under the new policy, federal agents may issue detainers (requests to assume custody of an illegal alien) only for those convicted or charged with a felony; those with three or more misdemeanor convictions, excluding traffic offenses and other minor crimes; and those whose misdemeanors are more serious, such as offenses involving violence or driving under the influence.



ICE's Criminal Alien Program assists in the identification, arrest, and removal of "priority aliens" who are incarcerated in federal, state, and local prisons and jails, as well as at-large criminal aliens who have circumvented identification.



In FY 2012, ICE says it removed 409,849 illegal aliens. Fifty-five percent of them (or 225,390) were convicted criminal aliens, the largest number of criminal aliens removed in agency history, ICE said.