Federal immigration agents and city probation officers worked together to round up 45 sex offenders in an sting called "Operator Predator." The NYPD and and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been working together to locate sex offenders on probation who are eligible for deportation. The offenders were taken into custody after visits with their probation officers. Out of the people apprehended, 20 were in the country illegally; deportation proceedings have begun for all.
The offenders' crimes are rather grim; the Post reports they included "a Bangladeshi national convicted of having intercourse with his 14-year old cousin; a Trinidad citizen convicted of raping his 15-year-old stepdaughter; and a Romanian woman convicted of endangering the welfare of a 13-year-old boy." ICE special agent Martin Ficke said, "If you are preying on our children, we will find you, arrest you and if you are not a U.S. citizen, we will remove you from this country."
Photograph of federal agents taking sex offenders to the Federal Building by Louis Lanzano/AP
