Five hundred. That's the count from a weeklong ICE-led operation in Southwest Florida, and it's a beautiful thing. Murderers, child abusers, cartel muscle, all pulled off the streets in seven days. Fox 35 Orlando has the breakdown.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ran the show, but not alone. The operation paired ICE with partner agencies, the kind of joint enforcement we used to call a surge back in the Tucson sector. Everybody works their piece. ICE brings the immigration authority, local and state agencies bring the street knowledge and the warrants. When it runs right, it runs like a checklist. And it ran right here, which is more than you can say for the jurisdictions that spend their time finding new ways to not cooperate.

Among the 500 arrested were illegal aliens accused or previously convicted of homicide, sexual offenses against children, and other violent felonies. Several had documented ties to cartels, which usually means either membership or running distribution for a transnational criminal organization. Those are the cases that matter most in an operation like this. A fugitive with a murder charge shouldn't be hard to find, but he often is, because for years half the system treated finding him as somebody else's problem. He turned up in this sweep. Good.

A quick note on terms, for readers who don't eat DHS press releases for breakfast like I do. A removal is the formal deportation of an illegal alien from the United States. A detainer is a request ICE files with a local jail to hold somebody for up to 48 hours after they'd otherwise be released, so ICE can come pick them up. You know, the thing sanctuary cities like to ignore. Expedited removal is a fast-track process that skips the full court hearing for certain recent entrants. Operations like this one feed all three pipelines, and every pipeline matters.

Five hundred arrests in seven days works out to roughly 71 a day in one region of one state. For context, that pace would be a strong month for some field offices. Florida has been running these joint operations regularly, and the numbers keep stacking up. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I don't root for a record. But I do write it down when one falls, and I enjoy the sound of the pen.

The names of the arrested will work their way through the system now. Some will face criminal prosecution on the underlying charges, murder and child abuse cases first. Others, whose criminal matters are already settled, go into removal proceedings and onto removal flights. The cartel-linked cases get extra attention, since transnational organized crime is a priority category for federal prosecutors as well as ICE. As it should be.

One caveat I always add, because it was drilled into me over 26 years: an arrest is an arrest, not a conviction. The count is real, but the cases aren't closed until a judge says so. That's the difference between us and the open-borders crowd; they don't care about the difference between an arrest and a conviction until it's convenient. Still, 500 illegal aliens off the streets of Southwest Florida in a week, including accused murderers, is a solid number. Pending litigation.

The scoreboard: 500 arrests, seven days, one region. Murder cases in the pile, cartel ties in the pile, child abusers in the pile. Operation closed. Count logged.