150 Sex Offenders Arrested In 'Operation Dirtbag' - NewsNation's Ali Bradley

150 sex offenders who were in the US illegally were arrested in 'Operation Dirtbag.' NewsNation Border Correspondent Ali Bradley joins us with the details.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to the hotline and bring in News Nation
Border correspondent Ali Bradley. You can watch her on NewsNation.
You can find all of her reporting at newsnationnow dot com,
and you can check her out on x for lots
more at Ali Bradley TV. Ali, it's great to talk
to you this morning. So yesterday the Department of Homeland
Security comes out and announces the results of Operation dirt

(00:22):
Bag right here in Florida. What do we know about
this operation and the people who were rounded up across
the state.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
It's really interesting, right because the operation was actually titled
Criminal Return, but GHS Secretary Christinom came out and said
a more fitting title would be Operation dirt Bag because
it was a sweeping enforcement operation involving several state agencies
at local, federal, and state, all working together here Florida

(00:50):
running this operation that took place over at span of
about ten days, where they actually arrested roughly two hundred
and thirty illegal immigrants. So the breakdown of those arrests there,
they say that fifty four of them were sexual predators,
one hundred and sixty four were offenders of sexual crimes,
two convicted murderers, one drug trafficker and eight other felonies. Now,

(01:13):
what was really interesting we're listening to the deputy Deputy
director from ICE talk about the operation. She was saying
that of those who have been arrested of sex crimes
against children, one was arrested ten times, another was arrested
nineteen times. So those are the kind of individuals that

(01:34):
they arrested in this sting operation. Again, it lasted over
ten days, a big operation for the state of Florida
and to get these individuals off the street. We even
heard from the Director of Florida Law Enforcement who said
that these are sex offenders and predators who raped children.
That these people have molested children and they need to
be off the streets. That they are the worst of

(01:54):
the worst, and they're working to get them out of
the communities. Now, a lot of this has to do
with the two AAI eighty seven G program that is
a partnership that allows local law enforcement to basically carry
out immigration enforcement operations as well. It allows them to
determine someone's alienage without having to bring in ICE or

(02:15):
without having.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
To bring in border patrol.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Local law enforcement are able to do some of those immigration.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Maneuvers.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
If you will as well under that two eighty seven
g program. There are different models that are in that program,
but when it comes down to brass tacks, forty different
states are involved in.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
That program at this juncture. Five hundred and ninety six.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Agreements have been the task force model for under nineteen
are the warrant service officers, and then one hundred and
forty agreements are the jail enforcement models.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
So we've got that happening across.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
The US, right that's I mean, you're looking at you know,
over eleven hundred agreements there that have been signed within
forty states. So you've got local law enforcement stepping up
and working alongside ice and boarder patrol right now throughout
the United States, and that includes Florida and that task
force that was able to arrest around two hundred and
thirty individuals.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
We're joined by News Nation Border correspondent Ali Bradley talking
about this Department of Homeland Security Operation dirt Bag here
in Florida ten day operation. What do we know about
how these kinds of operations come together, especially in states
like Florida where you have willing partners in state government,

(03:28):
local government, local law enforcement.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, so it'll depend on and whether that individual is
turned over after being arrested, if they're turned over to
ICE or to a local entity, it will depend on
if they have these individuals as targets. A lot of
times what ICE and Border Patrol are doing, and this
is mainly an ICE operation, is that they were going
after targeted individuals. So these individuals have flagged in the system,

(03:52):
whether they have a conviction for murder, whether they have
a conviction for child molestation, whatever it might be, but
they become a target.

Speaker 3 (03:58):
And so what this task for will do.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Is set up their recon and they will establish what
they call a pattern of life. They will go and
they will find out how this person lives, when they
go to work, vehicles, they drive, all of those different
elements are integrated in this kind of targeted enforcement, and
then they'll go out and they'll arrest that individual based
on that pattern of life. And again, this was over

(04:22):
ten days, so they were arresting several people every single day.
But you know, doesn't mean that some of those individuals
weren't in the same place. Maybe they were living together,
maybe they were in a vehicle together that got stopped,
and those individuals had those criminal infractions and so it
doesn't sound like this was any kind of sweeping enforcement
like a home depot, right. It seemed more like a

(04:43):
target more like these individuals that they arrested.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Were known to law enforcement, were.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Known individuals, and so that's why they're saying, you know,
several of these are the worst of the worst who
were arrested in this Florida kind of sting operation. And
then when you look at some of these individuals that
they have Vladimir Garcia leude and battery acts on a
child twelve to fifteen years old. You've got an individual

(05:10):
Frank Renee Gacita Borges, a criminal illegal alien from Cuba
convicted of sexual battery of a minor. Sergio Velaska Canero,
a criminal illegal alien from Cuba convicted of fondly a child.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
So those are just a few of the.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
Individuals that were wrapped up in this quote operation dirt Bag.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
And then what happens to them now that they have
been rounded up and detained, So they.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Will remain in attention waiting for their removal proceedings. Every
single one of these individuals, right is capped for removal
now at this juncture, because whether they were going through.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
An asylum proceeding or not.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
They violated their immigration terms by committing these crimes, so
they will now be removed. So I just read you
to individuals from Cuba. Those individuals will either be removed
to Cuba or they'll be removed to a country that
plays well with the United States. So it just depends
on what agreements they have. But right now they're likely
in ice custody in an attention facility right now pending

(06:08):
their removal, and then they will not be able to
come back to the United States. And let's of course
it's sneak in and become a godaway.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
We're joined now by News Nation Border correspondent Ali Bradley.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Alli.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
One last question for you. I know you've been covering
what's been going on in Chicago those immigration operations there.
Are they starting to wind down? What's the latest on
Operation Midway Blitz.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
I don't want anybody to get it twisted that it's
winding down in the sense of ice and Border Patrol
are remaining in Chicago under Operation Midway Blitz, and Secretary
of NOME even said they're going to surge more resources there.
The biggest thing is is Chief Gregory Bovino, who is
running those operations in it was kind of at the
base of a lot of the kind of inflammatory situations
we saw breaking out in Chicago and the lawsuits that

(06:52):
were attached to that.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
He's leaving, So.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
They have left Chicago Chief Bovino and some of his team.
He deployed originally with about two hundred Border Patrol agents.
Some reporting says about one hundred are going to be
staying behind, but we know that he is now heading
to Charlotte. They will be in Charlotte as early as
this weekend, that according to the Sheriff's office, and they
will likely be operating there for the duration of the week,

(07:16):
and then we can expect to see them head to
New Orleans to Louisiana where their sites are set on
that state, and we'll see I would imagine we'll see
similar operations to Operation Midway Blitz where they were doing
those home depot raids. They were doing that kind of sweeping,
quote at large enforcement, and they will also have targeted
enforcement operations as well that we know that they are

(07:38):
already planning and working on to conduct in both Charlotte
and New Orleans as well.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Our News Nation Border correspondent Ali Bradley You can check
her out on NewsNation. You can find her reporting at
newsnationnow dot com, and you can follow her on x
for the latest at Ali Bradley TV. Ali always appreciate
the time and updates. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
Always a pleasure. God bless you guys. We'll The Ryan
Gorman Show five to nine every weekday morning on news
radio w f L A