Some of the individuals had previously been released back into the community after they were caught committing offenses.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Houston division arrested 3,593 criminal illegal immigrants from the Southeast Texas region during the federal government shutdown between Oct. 1 and Nov. 12, the agency said in a statement on Nov. 18.
Among the arrested are 10 illegal immigrants with outstanding criminal arrest warrants, 13 murderers, 23 gang members, 46 individuals convicted of weapons offenses, 51 child predators, and 67 sex offenders, according to ICE.
In addition, 103 people were convicted of burglary or theft, 261 convicted of aggravated assault, and 366 convicted of driving while intoxicated, the agency said.
“Other criminal convictions and charges represented among the criminal aliens arrested include aggravated kidnapping, drug-related offenses, weapons offenses, human trafficking, making terroristic threats, evading and resisting arrest, prostitution, hit-and-run, bribery, auto theft, forgery, falsifying documents, human smuggling, trespassing, arson, illegally operating a game room, illegal reentry, illegal entry, and numerous other crimes,” the statement added.
According to ICE, one of the arrested individuals was a 23-year-old MS-13 gang member from Honduras who is alleged to have committed a triple homicide in Dallas County, Texas. He was released in the United States in May last year.
Another individual, a 44-year-old convicted rapist from Mexico, was encountered by ICE in September 2023, but the agency could not take the person into custody or remove him from the country at the time due to the prior administration’s immigration enforcement guidelines.
The person went on to rape and assault a woman on Oct. 25, 2023, and was convicted of sexual assault and aggravated assault in August 2024, according to ICE.
“Our entire team understands how critical ICE’s mission is to public safety and national security,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said.
“And despite many of them going without pay, they continued to show up every day and give everything they had to protect this community from dangerous criminal illegal alien gang members, child predators, murderers, and rapists.”
Democrats have criticized the Trump administration’s immigration operations and asked local authorities to take action against federal enforcement.
