US immigration raids: Uzbek citizens arrested in Puerto Rico

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested 100 people, including Uzbek citizens, in Puerto Rico as of February 3 for violating federal immigration laws, CNN reports.  

The arrests were part of a nationwide crackdown launched on January 26, 2025, in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at identifying, processing, and deporting illegal immigrants.  

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According to HSI San Juan, the 100 detainees include citizens of Guatemala, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, China, Brazil, the British Virgin Islands, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Israel, Italy, and Japan. The detainees are currently being processed at facilities run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands.  

For reference, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and is subject to many federal laws of Washington.  

It was previously reported that 572 Uzbek citizens were deported from the United States between September 2023 and September 2024—the highest number of deportations since 2014.