DHS official in Sarasota credits enforcement for more than 480,000 arrests, highlights 287(g) partnerships

Kristi Noem, who identified herself as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, told reporters in Sarasota on Friday that since January the department has arrested more than 480,000 people she described as "criminal illegal aliens," and that about 70% of those arrested have criminal charges or convictions.

Noem said the department is focusing on "the worst of the worst" and described several cases she said exemplify the work, including Eric Carlos Artiles Ramos (a Cuban national with a prior removal order from February 2008 and prior convictions she listed as kidnapping and carjacking), Oscar Alfredo Retina Marco Marroquin (described as a Salvadoran national with a 1995 conviction for sexual assault against a child and prior DUI arrests, and prior deportations in 1999 and 2019), Arturo Sanchez Morales (described as a Mexican national with prior deportation, arrests for burglary and possession of cocaine and multiple DUIs and a lewd-acts conviction), and Leylus Reynaldo Benaro Zahren (described…