DALLAS (AP) -- Immigration agents arrested 280 people in Texas during a six-month national roundup of gang members and criminals.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Thursday that agents working with state and local officials made the arrests as part of Operation Community Shield.
The sweep ended Sept. 30. and focused on gangs with foreign-born members.
ICE says 127 were arrested in North Texas and 113 in the Houston-Galveston area. Those included members or associates of such international gangs as MS-13, Surenos and Laotian Oriental Killer Boyz.
Officials say the 89-city operation led to 1,785 arrests nationwide of people suspected of gang and criminal activity or immigration violations.
ICE says 35 percent of those arrested in the nationwide operation have violent criminal histories and more than 1,400 are suspected gang members. About 905 people face criminal charges.
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