U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that it arrested several individuals described as violent offenders on September 8, 2025. The agency said the group included people convicted of crimes such as aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon, selling cocaine, burglary, indecency with a child, and assault inflicting serious bodily injury.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated: “While the media perpetuates FALSE narratives about ICE raiding schools, engaging in racial profiling and arresting firefighters, ICE law enforcement officers are risking their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Arrests from yesterday included pedophiles, drug traffickers, burglars, and other violent criminals. The media’s vile smears demonizing ICE is leading to our officers facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they carry out enforcement operations to make America safe again.”
The arrests included Tania Merlo-Mendoza from Honduras, who was convicted of aggravated battery with a dangerous weapon and had been arrested for multiple offenses in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; Reynaldo Morales-Valenzuela from Mexico, convicted for indecency with child sexual contact in Bexar County, Texas; Alejandro Acevedo from Mexico for burglary in New Castle County, Delaware; Jonathan Venegas-Garcia from Mexico for assault inflicting serious bodily injury in Iredell County, North Carolina; and Jose Puga-Saldivar from Mexico for cocaine sales in Santa Ana, California.
ICE stated it will continue enforcing U.S. immigration laws to identify and remove criminal illegal aliens as part of efforts to safeguard communities nationwide.
