U.S. federal agents arrested 74 illegal immigrants in the Houston area as part of a six-day nationwide sweep that netted more than 3,100 arrests, authorities said Monday.
The six-day "Cross Check'' operation, which ended Thursday, was the largest of its kind, involving more than 1,900 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents, along with officials from federal, state and local law enforcement organizations, according to ICE.
Roughly 90 percent of those arrested were with criminal records for offenses including murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking, authorities said.
In addition to the 74 arrested in the Houston area, authorities also arrested 11 in Beaumont and nine in College Station, according to the daily Houston Chronicle.
Arrests were made in all 50 states during the anti-illegal immigrant sweep, according to media reports.