ATLANTA, Ga. — Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than 1,200 undocumented immigrants in Atlanta as part of an operation, the agency announced.

Dubbed “Operation Safe Community — Atlanta,” the mission resulted in 1,226 people in custody. Of those, more than 700 had criminal histories in the United States, ranging from sex crimes and aggravated assault to drug crimes and burglary, according to ICE.

“Our officers did what they do best: they arrested and removed dangerous criminal offenders from American communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Acting Assistant Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement. “Removing these criminal alien offenders from Georgia neighborhoods makes for much safer communities, and that is exactly what the men and women of ICE work to accomplish every day across our great nation.”

It’s unclear when the operation started and ended.

The arrests come as protests against ICE continue in metro Atlanta. Last month, dozens of people gathered around the Downtown Atlanta ICE field office for a candlelight vigil, demanding due process rights.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams has also introduced a bill that would stop the Transportation Security Administration from sharing passenger information with ICE, which gives the Department of Homeland Security the ability to check immigration status.

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