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Posted: 4:39 PM- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are beginning deportation procedures against a dozen immigrants who were convicted of sex crimes and have completed their sentences.
The 12 people were arrested by ICE on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Salt Lake City area. The agency and local authorities used sexual predator databases to identify them, according to Kurt Fitz-Randolph, assistant special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Utah.
The suspects were on parole or probation, Fitz-Randolph said. All of them, including some who are legal permanent residents, can be deported based on their criminal convictions, he said.
Ideally, the immigrants would have gone straight from jail into ICE custody, but their cases fell through the cracks, he said.
Those arrested are nationals of Mexico, the Congo, Germany, Sudan, Croatia, Samoa and Guatemala. One of them sexually abused five girls ranging in age from 3 to 9, according to ICE.