Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrests 14 in Eagle, Garfield counties

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 14 undocumented immigrants in operations in Garfield and Eagle counties this month.

An ICE spokesman Saturday confirmed that the agency’s officers made these arrests during “a routine immigration enforcement operation” from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16 in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Carbondale, Eagle and Avon.

Of the 14 arrested by ICE, 13 were men and one was a woman, and they ranged from 19 to 49 years old, according to the agency. ICE officers arrested eight people from Mexico, two from Honduras, two from Guatemala, one from Brazil and one from El Salvador.

“Twelve of those arrested had convictions for crimes, such as burglary, driving under the influence and felony drug charges. One of the criminal aliens arrested was also a MS-13 gang member,” according to an ICE release.

“ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. In keeping with these efforts, ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan has made it clear that ICE will no longer exempt any class of individuals from removal proceedings if they are found to be in the country illegally,” wrote Carl Rusnok, ICE central region director of communications based out of Dallas.

Rusnok said that all of these operations are “targeted based on investigative leads” and are not random enforcement actions such as checkpoints.