500 illegal immigrants held in U.S. crackdown

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 498 foreign nationals for federal immigration violations in a four-day operation, U.S. media reported Saturday.

The crackdown, known as operation "Safe City", rounded up foreign nationals from 42 countries in 10 cities or counties across the country, according to the ICE.

The eastern city of Philadelphia saw 107 arrests, followed by Los Angeles with 101 arrests. Denver, the State of Massachusetts, New York, Seattle, Santa Clara County, Baltimore, Cook County and Washington D.C. came in third to tenth.

The cities, counties and states selected were "sanctuary regions", or those that had denied ICE deportation officers access to jails and prisons to interview suspected immigration violators or jurisdictions where ICE detainers were not honored.

"Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration," ICE acting Director Tom Homan said.

The ICE said 317 of the arrested had criminal convictions, 104 were previously deported aliens, 68 were immigration fugitives and 18 were gang members.

The issue of illegal immigrants has been a contentious one in U.S. politics since the election of Donald Trump as president, as parts of the country, especially politically liberal regions, vowed to block the federal government's effort to arrest illegal immigrants.