Border Report Live: 'Operation Pick-Off' targets criminal immigrants, feds say

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) -- Authorities arrested a total 78 people during the weekend in Texas' Rio Grande Valley as part of Operation Pick-Off, a multi-agency effort targeting criminal immigrants, prosecutors announced Monday.

During a new conference, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Nicholas J. Ganjei said the individuals were taken into custody for various immigration-related violations, adding that several have begun to make their appearances before U.S. magistrate judges in McAllen and Brownsville.

Operation Pick-Off took place in the counties of Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo and Starr.

“For those that want to come to this country without permission and then victimize American citizens once here, we are more than happy to accommodate them with a stay at a federal facility, followed by a one-way ticket home,” Ganjei said. “SDTX will not rest until we’ve brought Operation Pick-Off to each and every one of the Southern District’s 43 counties. If you’re here illegally and you commit crimes in our community, you can expect a visit from us, and that visit is going to come sooner rather than later. This is what Operation Take Back America looks like.”

In this episode of Border Report Live, KVEO investigative reporter Dave Hendricks, who was at the Monday's news conference, discusses the message that federal prosecutors and immigration officials had for the public.

Join the award-winning Border Report team at borderreport.com for a daily, in-depth discussion about people living, working and migrating along the U.S.-Mexico border.

You can also watch past episodes of the Border Report Live, highlighting not only immigration and border security, but cartel violence in Mexico, border trade, politics and the U.S. and Mexico’s ongoing water dispute on the border.

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