DANBURY - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested multiple people in Danbury on Thursday in what the agency called a "targeted immigration enforcement operation."In a statement to CT Insider, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security - which oversees ICE - said the agency "conducted a targeted immigration enforcement operation in Danbury, Connecticut, to arrest multiple criminal illegal aliens, many of whom were recently released from jail by sanctuary politicians who refused to honor ICE's detainers." The agency did not specify an exact number of arrests."Several of these criminal illegal aliens have charges that range from sexual assault against a minor, child abuse and kidnapping, to assault on police officers," the statement said, bold letters included. The agency did not provide names or other details for any of those arrests.Chief Patrick Ridenhour of the Danbury Police Department and Taylor O'Brien, chief of staff to Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, said the city did not receive any advance notice of the operation. O'Brien said the city did not have any knowledge of ICE staging on city property during Thursday's operation, as federal agents have sometimes done in various Connecticut municipalities. Ridenhour referred further questions to ICE.Juan Fonseca, a Danbury resident and cofounder of Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants, or DUFI, said he got to Danbury Superior Court Thursday around 8 a.m. and saw at least four people taken away by ICE while coming down the steps outside the building.A photo DUFI shared on Facebook early Thursday morning showed what appears to be a group of ICE agents in Danbury, two of whom are carrying a video camera and a boom microphone. DHS has shared highly produced videos of ICE operations on social media.DUFI members collected "some names" of those arrested, according to Fonseca, but he declined to share them with CT Insider, citing the individuals' privacy.Standing outside the courthouse shortly after noon, Fonseca said he'd seen about eight or nine ICE vehicles in the area of the courthouse. A CT Insider saw one apparent ICE vehicle still in the courthouse parking lot during the afternoon hours. Two others were nearby.While some of the vehicles were unmarked, Fonseca shared a photo with CT Insider that showed a dark SUV driving near the courthouse with "ICE" in large letters on its side, "DEFEND THE HOMELAND" on its back and sides and a U.S. government license plate.This is a developing story and may be updated.Sign up for the Connecticut Briefing from CT Insider. Get the biggest headlines of the day from our network of journalists around the state.This article originally published at ICE makes arrests in Danbury near courthouse in 'targeted immigration enforcement operation'.