TWO Guyanese are currently in custody following a five-day operation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New York, targeting “at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and other immigration violators”.

In a statement, ICE said that one of the persons arrested is a 23-year-old Guyanese male with convictions for driving while ability impaired and for harassment, following his arrest for menacing with a weapon. The immigration enforcement agency said that he will remain in custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.

The other person is a 46-year-old Guyanese female with convictions for forgery and larceny. She too, will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her removal proceedings. The two were among 46 foreign nationals from 16 countries who were taken into custody during the operation. Some of those persons came from CARICOM countries including Jamaica, Belize and Trinidad and Tobago; and more developed countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom (UK).

The immigration enforcement agency explained that some of the individuals arrested will be presented for federal prosecution for re-entry after deportation, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, those not being criminally prosecuted will be processed for removal from the country. Individuals who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. In the statement, ICE shared that its deportation officers conduct targeted enforcement operations every day in locations around the country. This, they said, forms part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.

Last week, ICE’s 2017 Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) Report revealed that 137 Guyanese were deported from the U.S. in 2017. The 137 represented an increase from 2016 when only 93 Guyanese were deported. ERO identifies, arrests, and removes aliens who present a danger to national security or a threat to public safety, or who otherwise undermine border control and the integrity of the U.S. immigration system.

In 2016 more than 72, 000 non-Immigrant and 7,000 Immigrant visas were issued to Guyanese by the U.S. Embassy here. The figures for 2017 has not been revealed. U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Perry Holloway, had said that the increase in visas being issued locally was as a result of improved economic conditions in the country. “Luckily, only a very small percentage of Guyanese abuse their visas by staying illegally,” the U.S. Ambassador had said at the U.S.’s 241st Independence Day celebration in Georgetown last year.