U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston announced on Mar. 9 the arrest of 414 criminal illegal aliens charged with or convicted of child sex offenses during President Trump's first year back in office. This figure nearly doubles the number arrested during the last year of the Biden administration, when ICE reported 211 such arrests.
The agency said these individuals were responsible for a total of 761 child sex offenses and an additional 525 other crimes, including homicide and robbery. The arrests are part of ICE's ongoing efforts to remove individuals deemed threats to public safety from local communities.
"While elected officials and media pundits across the country were zealously trying to manipulate the American public with fake news stories about ICE’s public safety mission, the brave men and women of ICE were quietly going about their business to arrest and remove more than 400 dangerous child predators from our local communities," said ICE ERO Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez. "Thanks to their tireless efforts, parents across Southeast Texas can sleep a little better tonight knowing that these pedophiles and child rapists are no longer a threat to their children."
Among those arrested were individuals from Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia, and the United Kingdom. Several had multiple prior deportations or convictions for serious crimes such as aggravated sexual assault of a minor, sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, burglary, larceny, and failure to register as a sex offender. Some remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings while others have been deported to their countries of origin.
Federal agencies including the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Diplomatic Security Service, U.S. Marshals Service, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies assisted in locating and apprehending these individuals.
ICE Houston oversees immigration enforcement across 58 counties in Southeast Texas. The agency encourages members of the public to report crimes or suspicious activity by calling its tip line or submitting information through its online form.
