Arrested individuals include illegals alleged to have committed assaults, including a sexual exploitation of a child.
More than 1,030 criminal illegal immigrants have been arrested under the Laken Riley Act as part of Operation Angel’s Honor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement on Dec. 22.
Operation Angel’s Honor was a 14-day nationwide ICE operation that has now concluded. The Laken Riley Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Jan. 29, named in honor of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Hope Riley from Georgia, who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in February 2024.
The Act requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to arrest any foreign national charged with crimes such as theft, burglary, assault, or those resulting in serious bodily injury or death, even if the individual was granted bail from state detention by a court.
According to ICE, among the criminals arrested as part of the operation are a 37-year-old Peruvian illegal immigrant with a criminal history of rape and assault, a 24-year-old illegal Nicaraguan who was previously arrested for assaulting an officer, a 27-year-old Mexican illegal immigrant convicted for sexually exploiting a child, and a 40-year-old El Salvadoran illegal immigrant who was earlier arrested for assault and battery on a pregnant victim.
“President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens unleashed on the United States by the previous administration,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country. We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice.”
ICE Director Todd Lyons said that while the operation has been a “massive success,” it also serves as a reminder about the impact of immigrant crime and violence.
Despite the Laken Riley Act, sanctuary jurisdictions are refusing to turn over criminal illegal immigrants to ICE, the agency said, adding that this forces officers to risk their lives to hunt down these wanted individuals.
Sanctuary jurisdictions are places in the United States where local or state officials refuse to enforce federal immigration laws or cooperate with federal immigration authorities
