Alleged offenses include illegally reentering the United States, smuggling people into the country, and importing controlled substances.
U.S. attorneys from southwestern border districts this past week continued the crackdown on illegal immigration under the Trump administration.
“The U.S. Attorneys for Arizona, Central California, Southern California, New Mexico, Southern Texas, and Western Texas charged more than 1,020 defendants with criminal violations of U.S. immigration laws,” the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in an April 14 statement.
The Southern District of Texas filed 229 cases related to border security issues, which include 80 individuals facing “allegations of illegally reentering the country, with the majority having felony convictions such as narcotics, firearms or sexual offenses, or prior immigration crimes.”
In the District of Arizona, 261 illegal immigrants faced immigration-related criminal charges, with 103 facing illegal reentry charges. Fourteen cases were filed against 18 people alleged to have smuggled illegal immigrants into the region.
A total of 116 border-related cases were filed against illegal immigrants in the Southern District of California, with charges including “transportation of illegal aliens, bringing in aliens for financial gain, receipt of bribes by public officials, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.”
The Western District of Texas filed 295 cases related to immigration and immigration-related criminal matters.
In late February, law enforcement arrested 68 members of the notorious gang Tren de Aragua (TdA). Originating in Venezuela, the gang has been designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department.
Earlier this month, ICE announced the arrest of 133 individuals in New York during an operation focusing on “criminal illegal alien offenders and other immigration violators.” Twenty of those arrested had prior criminal convictions or charges, including three who were convicted of homicide.
During the first 50 days of the Trump administration, ICE arrested 32,809 illegal immigrants, including 14,111 convicted criminals, with 9,980 carrying pending charges against them. The 32,809 arrests almost equaled the total arrests made during all of fiscal year 2024.
The recent arrests of over 1,020 illegals by southwestern border districts were made as part of Operation Take Back America, a “nationwide initiative to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from perpetrators of violent crime,” according to the Justice Department.
