Law enforcement officers conducting a sweep for illegal immigrants in one American city have arrested 1,200 individuals, including some 720 who already had been convicted of, or charged with, criminal actions.
Marco Charles, one chief at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, said the sweep took violent criminals such as sex offenders and child abusers off the streets.
According to a report from Fox, Charles told “Fox & Friends,” “We arrested over 1,200 aliens, illegal aliens, out in the Atlanta, Georgia area. More than half of those people had criminal histories.”
He explained, “We’re talking about sex crimes, assault and battery, some with DUI convictions, domestic violence. These individuals needed to be taken off the street, not only because they’re criminals, but because they are here illegally in the United States.”
It was called “Operation Safe Community – Atlanta” and the arrests were conducted over recent days.
Charles continued, “Every day, the men and women of ICE ERO were out in the streets across the nation, enforcing the immigration laws as set forth by Congress. So we’re keeping the community safe.”
OVER 1,200 ILLEGAL ALIENS ARRESTED IN GEORGIA. @EROAtlanta’s MASSIVE operation included arrests of heinous criminals with convictions for sexual battery and cruelty to children.
Under @POTUS Trump and @SecMullinDHS, ICE is NOT slowing down — we will continue to hunt down and… pic.twitter.com/T8hkD54m4I
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) August 7, 2026
MASSIVE ICE operation in Atlanta leads to more than 1200 arrests with authorities saying over 700 of those detained had prior criminal convictions or pending charges including sexual assault battery aggravated assault domestic violence and cruelty to children#NYI pic.twitter.com/ELVobMKu45
— NewYork-Insight (@NewYork_Insight) August 7, 2026
He said similar operations will be conducted “all over the United States.”
During the month of July ICE officers made approximately 51,000 arrests, the report said.
He noted the protests and other obstruction schemes that have developed to fight off federal law enforcement plans, but said officers simply adjust their tactics.
“What we’ve done is we’ve adapted to that, not only with additional training, but we’ve adapted our methodology on how we conduct these enforcement efforts and our arrest methods,” he said in the report.
One of those arrested was a suspect who had prior arrests for “domestic battery/family violence, cruelty to children, disorderly conduct and driving while intoxicated.”
