Saudi officials claim more than 33,000 illegal residents have been detained since an amnesty ended on November 3.
The arrested would be deported, a statement issued late on Tuesday says.
Authorities have raided businesses and public places across the kingdom since Monday last week looking for foreign workers who failed to legalise their status during the six-month amnesty.
At least one man, an Ethiopian, was shot dead by police during a raid last week.
The crackdown also led hundreds of mostly Africans to riot in the streets of a poor Riyadh neighbourhood on Saturday night.
Two people, including a Saudi man hit in the head with a rock, and an unidentified man, were killed, while more than 65 were injured.
Meanwhile, economists have told Arab News the campaign only would be successful into the future if expatriates were barred from transferring their sponsorship and changing professions.
Farouq Al Khatib, professor of economics at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, said if sponsors no longer needed a worker, he should be sent back to his country.
However, Taif University professor of economics Salim Baujaja said there were many illegal people in the country because the Ministry of Labor had not issued enough visas for companies needing workers.
It is estimated about one-third of Saudi’s population of 27m are foreign workers, mostly from southern Asia and Africa.
About 1m returned home during the amnesty, while another 4m rectified their visa status.
Follow us on
