Special agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have arrested 88 illegal immigrants in the states of Florida and New York, the ICE announced Wednesday.

In Florida, 54 illegal aliens, who provided janitorial services in state government buildings in Tallahassee, the state capital, were arrested last Saturday.

The 54 arrested were from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. Two of them faced criminal prosecution for illegally re-entering the country after being deported and one for document fraud.

Twenty-one admitted to being illegally present in the United States and accepted stipulated orders of removal, and their removal from the country was imminent, the ICE said.

The remaining 30 individuals were charged administratively for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, with 24 remaining in ICE custody and six given orders of supervision because they were either juveniles, or families with young children.

In North Tonawanda, New York, ICE agents arrested 34 illegal aliens Wednesday morning who were working at a farm, the Fortistar Hydroponic Tomato Greenhouse.

These 34 people would be criminally charged and each faced two criminal charges -- use of a fraudulent alien registration card, known as "green card", and false use of a Social Security number. They would also be administratively charged with being illegally present in the United States and would be scheduled for a removal hearing before a federal immigration judge.

The ICE, which was set up in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the US Homeland Security Department, has conducted several nationwide operations designed to remove illegal aliens found working at some of the nation's most sensitive worksites, including airports, nuclear power plants, chemical plants and defense facilities.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2006)