Illegal immigrants, violence, drugs and gang crime

The illegal immigrants being held in area jails are increasingly charged with violent crimes as law enforcement agencies focus on taking murderers, rapists and gang members off the streets. Nearly half of the criminal charges filed against the 274 inmates who were being held at the end of February 2010 on Immigration and Customs Enforcement warrants in Fairfax, Alexandria and D.C. jails related to violence, drugs and gang participation. A senior ICE official said the agency has made targeting violent criminals who are in the country illegally a priority.