7 Lynn residents among locals nabbed in nationwide ICE removal operation

LYNN – Ten local residents, including seven from Lynn, were taken into custody last week by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part the agency?s largest removal operation ever, an ICE spokesman said Monday.Of seven people arrested in the city, all but one had criminal convictions, said Ross Feinsteen, an ICE spokesman. The other was an immigration fugitive. The arrests were just a small portion of a six-day nationwide “Cross Check” operation designed to locate and remove criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators, Feinsteen said.The agency announced Monday that the enforcement operation, the third of its kind, had resulted in the arrest of more than 3,100 immigrants with criminal and civil violations, the agency?s largest number of arrests in a single operation. “Cross Check” began March 24 and ended Friday.Lynn had the most arrests of any city in the state, according to data released by the agency. ICE arrested 70 individuals statewide.Three people arrested in Lynn had been convicted of drunk driving, Feinsteen said. Others had previous convictions of sexual assault, aggravated assault with a weapon and heroin distribution. One had also re-entered the country unlawfully, Feinsteen said.Lynn Police assisted ICE in the arrests of three men, including Enrique Reynoso-Zapet, 29, of 85 Lynnfield St., who they found hiding in the basement. They also aided in the arrest of Dixon Arias, 36, of 129 Williams Ave., and Sergio Salas-Garcia, 40, of 450 Western Ave., according to Lt. Chris Kelly, but he could not say what crimes the men had previously committed.Feinsteen declined to identify the other four people arrested in Lynn.?ICE agents were in [Lynn] multiple days last week, and we only get the information if we?re with them,” Kelly said.ICE also carried out arrests in Revere, apprehending a man convicted of aggravated assault, a felony, as well as a 27-year-old immigrant from Bosnia-Herzegovina who was previously convicted of drunk driving, possession of cocaine and Ecstasy, and shoplifting. Revere Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli declined to give their names, citing the potential harm to future investigations.ICE Agents also arrested one Peabody man previously convicted of larceny and possession of burglary tools, Feinsteen said.The majority of the people arrested in the “Cross Check” operation will be removed from the country, Feinsteen said, but those who re-entered the country after being deported may be referred to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution. A charge of illegal re-entry after deportation, a felony, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.?If they have a final order of removal, we?ll work with the foreign country to get a travel document and have them deported.”If they have not yet been given an order of removal, Feinsteen said they will go before an immigration judge.?A lot of people think ICE says, unilaterally, ?Hey you get deported,? and that?s not really the case,” Feinsteen said. “The immigration judge will decide if you get deported.”ICE arrested 145 people, 131 men and 14 women, throughout New England, including 119 who had at least one criminal conviction. Among those, 64 had felony convictions and 50 were also immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to depart, and 12 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country.The agency conducted the first successful Cross Check in December 2009, and has since conducted seven regional and two national Cross Check operations resulting in the arrest of more than 7,400 convicted criminal aliens, according to a press release.?The results of this targeted enforcement operation underscore ICE?s ongoing commitment to public safety,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director of ICE?s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) for New England in a statement. “Because of the tireless efforts and teamwork of ICE officers and agents, there are 145 fewer criminal aliens and fugi