SACRAMENTO (AP) - Federal officials on Monday said they arrested 109 immigration violators from Sacramento to Stockton last week, including at least seven who had criminal records.

By Monday, 98 had been deported, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Many had ignored final deportation orders already issued by immigration judges and can be sent home without further hearings.

The remaining 11 were in federal custody awaiting deportation hearings.

The immigrants came from four countries, primarily Mexico. They were caught in Sacramento, Lodi and Stockton as part of the government’s ongoing “Operation Return to Sender,” ICE said in a news release. Nationals of El Salvador, Fiji and the Philippines also were caught in the sweep.

“If you are ordered deported, you should obey the immigration court’s order. Otherwise, ICE is going to track you down and send you home,” said Tim Aitken, the acting field office director for ICE detention and removal operations in San Francisco.

ICE officials said the sweep was part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s broader effort to improve border security, target businesses that hire illegal immigrants and deport those here illegally.