More than 150 illegal migrant s£xu@l predators have been arrested in Florida as part of a massive sweep dubbed “Operation Dirtbag,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed on Wednesday.
The sex offenders were among more than 230 illegals rounded up in the Sunshine State after being wanted for crimes including drug offenses and even murd£r.
Others who were arrested had prior convictions for child molestation and s£xual ass@ult, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“This operation was called Operation Criminal Return. I call it Operation Dirtbag, because these individuals were sex offenders, but not just sex offenders, they targeted children,” Noem told “Fox & Friends.”
“These 150 individuals will be gone off of our streets. Our kids will be safer.”
Noem added that the blitz, carried out with the cooperation of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, was a model she wanted to replicate across the US.
“These individuals should have never been in our country to begin with,” she said.
“The fact that they were sexual deviants and perverts, and now we’ve gotten them off of our streets, it’s remarkable. And we need to do more of it.”
Noem spoke publicly after reports emerged that an influx of federal Border Patrol agents who had been assigned to round up illegal migrants in Chicago were set to leave and continue the Trump administration’s crackdown in other major cities.
While Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are still expected to continue operations in Chicago, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker hailed the development – calling President Trump “demented” Tuesday for targeting the Windy City in the first place.
Both Trump and DHS have maintained the Chicago operation, which began in September, had led to a huge drop in crime, including a 41% decline in robberies and a 35% drop in shootings.
Noem ripped the Illinois governor Wednesday morning – insisting that Pritzker’s “personal attacks” were putting “his people in jeopardy each and every day.”
“I’m just so thrilled with the results that we’ve had in Chicago, and we’re going to surge more resources there,” she said.
“We’re not going to just be in Chicago. We’re spreading out to other cities and continuing to do our work. I won’t talk about specific operations, but we’re not going to give him any relief from his political rhetoric,” she added.
“We’re going to be in there defending these families. The significant difference that we’ve made in public safety in Chicago is something that we need more and many more cities.”
