The US Border Patrol New Orleans Sector announced on Thursday, March 27, the “successful culmination of Operation Magnolia,” which resulted in the arrest of 25 undocumented immigrants in Mississippi.
According to a statement from the New Orleans Border Patrol, agents conducted a traffic enforcement operation along the Interstate 20 corridor in Rankin County. The “around-the-clock operation” began on Monday, March 17, and ended on Friday, March 21, in the Pearl neighborhood.
According to the statement, the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the Division of Customs and Border Protection all assisted with the operation.
Officials also indicated that 22 of the 25 people apprehended have been processed for removal from the United States, while the remaining three will face prosecution under the federal re-entry after deportation act.
According to police, the people apprehended were from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. The individuals’ names were not disclosed in the Thursday announcement.
In mid-January, roughly two dozen immigrant arrests were recorded in Madison County. These arrests occurred just days after President Donald J. Trump unveiled his mass deportation plan.
“These operations strengthen and enhance our nation’s border security,” New Orleans Border Patrol Acting Chief Adam Calderon said in the statement. “We will continue to focus our enforcement efforts on these dangerous criminal networks and their smuggling operations to prevent human trafficking and other organized crime. These Border Patrol enforcement initiatives make our community safer and deter illegal aliens from attempting to break our nation’s immigration laws.”
The New Orleans Border Patrol Sector covers 592 counties and parishes and approximately 362,310 square miles in seven states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and a piece of Florida’s panhandle.