As Republicans accuse the Obama administration of shirking its responsibilities on immigration enforcement, the agency responsible for it announced Monday the arrest of more than 3,100 convicted criminals and illegal re-entrants within a six-day period last week.

From Saturday, March 24, to Thursday, March 29, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 2,834 convicted criminals and 698 people who had illegally re-entered the country after being removed.

“These are not people we want roaming our streets,” ICE Director John Morton said at a press conference on Monday.

The Obama administration is attempting to counteract two dramatically different charges leveled against it on immigration enforcement. From the right, there is a claim that the administration is more interested in providing “amnesty” to undocumented immigrants than enforcing the law. From the left, immigrant advocates point out the large number of non-criminals and low-level offenders — many of whom have families in the United States — that are netted and deported by ICE.

Deporting convicted criminals, and touting it, is meant to thread the needle between the two. Last week’s operation was the third of its kind: The first, in which 2,442 convicted criminals were arrested, took place in May 2011; the second, which netted 2,901, took place in September 2011.

Read the full story at The Huffington Post