Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has announced a major law enforcement action that will remove 171 convicted criminal alien sex offenders from Virginia.

The joint action, made along with the Virginia State Police and U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is the first known initiative of its kind in the United States, and Virginia authorities hope it will serve as a model for other states.

"I trust every Virginian agrees that there is no place in Virginia for criminal alien sex offenders," McDonnell said during a conference call with reporters last week.

Bill Reid, director of ICE's Virginia bureau, called the effort Operation Cold Play, and said it was a component of Operation Predator, which is a multi-year effort targeted at sex offenders nationwide.

In July 2007, McDonnell requested that the Virginia State Police check the birthplace of each individual on the Virginia Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry and share the information with ICE.

According to McDonnell, the Virginia State Police compiled the list and turned it over to ICE. Agents then ran the list against two different federal databases and found that 84 convicted criminal alien sex offenders on the list had already left the country or been deported, but 171 immigrant offenders from 21 different countries were still in residence in the state.

A total of 135 convicted criminal alien sex offenders were found to be incarcerated in state and local jails, and are now being processed for removal upon completion of their incarceration.

Another 36 four of them from Fairfax County were recently taken into federal custody through Operation Cold Play and have been put into removal proceedings.

McDonnell called the eventual removal of the 171, "a milestone in our effort to remove criminal illegal aliens from the Commonwealth."

"Since the establishment of the Sex Offender Investigative Unit in 2007 and with the assistance of Virginia Probation and Parole, the Virginia State Police have made significant progress in the maintenance and enforcement of Virginias Sex Offender Registry," said Col. W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police superintendent. "Working with ICE is one more partnership the state police utilizes to enhance the safety of our communities throughout Virginia."