185 illegal immigrants arrested in LV last year

Federal immigration authorities arrested 185 illegal immigrants in the Las Vegas area during the last fiscal year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.

Thirty-nine of the immigrants had criminal records, including fugitives convicted of child molestation and drug possession, ICE said.

The arrests spanned the federal fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. Many of the arrests were handled by a fugitive operations team recently established in Las Vegas, ICE said.

The fugitive operations teams focus on finding illegal immigrants who were ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge. Fugitives with violent criminal pasts or who are national security threats take priority, ICE said.

"They've had their day in court. They've had the opportunity to file appeals. Now it's time to comply and go home," said Steven Branch, the field office director overseeing Las Vegas.

The 75 teams across the country were responsible for more than 30,000 arrests last year.

ICE created the teams in 2003 to help ease the backlog of nearly 600,000 fugitive immigrants in the United States. The Las Vegas team started in August.

ICE credited the teams for a 6 percent dip this year in the number of backlogged fugitive cases nationwide.