AUSTIN — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested three convicted Austin criminals as part of a national roundup last week.

Austin Police Chief Brian Krueger said he was aware the arrests were taking place, but he has no further details about who was arrested or where.

As part of the national arrest blitz, 37 convicted criminals were arrested in Minnesota.

Scott Baniecke, the field office director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Minnesota, says those arrested “are not the people we want in our communities.”

Shawn Neudauer, public affairs officer for ICE, said not everyone arrested was an illegal alien. Some of the people arrested are legal citizens of the United States, but because of the nature of the crime they were convicted of, were subject to arrest by ICE.

Neudauer said ICE cannot release specifics about who was arrested; however, only criminals convicted of a level one, two or three offense were targeted.

More than 1,600 of those arrested had felony convictions including manslaughter, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, drug trafficking, child abuse, sexual crimes against minors and aggravated assault. Of the total 2,901 criminals arrested, 42 were gang members and 151 were convicted sex offenders.

In addition to being convicted criminals, 681 of those arrested were also immigration fugitives who had previously been ordered to leave the country but failed to depart. Additionally, 386 were illegal re-entrants who had been previously removed from the country multiple times.

The seven-day operation, lasting from Sept. 17 to Sept. 23, came a month after Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that officials would focus on deporting the most serious criminal immigrants. Nationwide, 2,901 people were arrested.

Also in Minnesota, 17 people were arrested in Minneapolis, seven in Rosemount and two in St. Paul. The communities of Andover, Faribault, Lakeville, Monticello, Northfield, Owatonna, Red Wing and Shakopee all saw one arrest each.

The Minnesota arrests include a 50-year-old man from Mexico, convicted of transporting illegal immigrants and importing drugs to distribute.