Criminal immigrant arrests include 87 in Illinois

Officials say 87 of the nearly 3,000 criminal immigrants rounded up nationally for deportation over the last week were arrested in Illinois — including a fugitive who was convicted nearly 30 years ago on drug charges.

The weeklong roundup comes a few weeks after the Obama administration promised to focus on deporting the most serious criminal immigrants. The administration also promised to delay deportations for most noncriminal immigrants who don’t pose a threat to public safety or national security. In a news release, the Chicago office of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the 87 people arrested in Illinois were nationals from nine countries. They were arrested in Cook County and 12 other counties across the state.