187 illegal immigrants rounded up in N.E. sweep

More than 100 undocumented immigrants were rounded up in Massachusetts in a six-day operation targeting immigrants who have committed a crime, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reported.

In all, 187 undocumented immigrants were picked up across New England by more than 150 state, local, and federal law enforcement agents in what was dubbed ''Operation Flash," which ended yesterday, said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest investigative arm of the US Homeland Security Department.

The enforcement action, he said, was part of Homeland Security's efforts ''to protect national security and public safety by restoring integrity to the immigration system.

''Some people think of our immigration system and removal orders as optional," Raimondi said. ''Today's effort shows that an order of removal must be complied with."

Raimondi said an initial target list included 179 undocumented immigrants who had been convicted of such crimes as rape, assault and battery, and drug trafficking and who had failed to comply with orders to leave the country. Those targeted posed a security threat, because of a high likelihood they might become repeat offenders, he said.

The final tally included 85 undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of crimes and ordered to leave the country, and 60 who had gone before an immigration judge and had been ordered removed from the country but were not convicted of any crime. Also captured were 42 illegal immigrants who had yet to go before a judge to determine their status.

''When we came across illegal aliens, we served them papers to appear," Raimondi said.

The operation was ''the most ambitious" since the creation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement more than two years ago, he said. Officials plan to discuss the roundup at a press conference in Boston at 1 p.m. today.

Anthony Drago, a Boston lawyer who handles mostly immigration cases, said he has no qualms with an operation that targets undocumented immigrants who were ordered to leave the country. ''My sense of what's going on . . . is the government is doing its job," Drago said.

David Abel and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Scott Goldstein can be reached at sgoldstein@globe.com.