WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Sunday that during a federal raid on a Colorado Springs nightclub, agents arrested over 100 immigrants who the agency alleges were present in the U.S. illegally.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
The raid was one of the biggest in the number of arrests since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. Trump has vowed to deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and has made it a signature issue for his presidency.
BY THE NUMBERS
The DEA said 114 people were arrested and were put on buses for processing and likely eventual deportation. It added that the nightclub had over 200 people inside and 114 of those were in the U.S. illegally.
KEY QUOTES
“This morning (DEA) apprehended over 100 illegal aliens at an underground night club frequented by Tda and MS-13 terrorists. Cocaine, meth, and pink cocaine was seized. 2 people were also arrested on existing warrants,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X.
Bondi’s post did not directly say if those arrested were part of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and another Salvadoran gang MS-13.
The DEA separately said that “occupants of the illegal underground nightclub in Colorado Springs were given multiple warnings to come out.”
CONTEXT
U.S. agencies have stepped up enforcement actions since Trump took office.
A day earlier, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency and state officials in Florida arrested nearly 800 people who were in the U.S. illegally over four days in what it called a “massive, multi-agency immigration enforcement crackdown.”
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington;Editing by Mary Milliken and by Diane Craft)
Comments