The federal agency announced Monday that 214 illegal immigrants taken into federal custody since late January were determined to have been charged or convicted of crimes against children.
“Bringing together the resources and expertise of the entire federal law enforcement community to confront the overwhelming surge of illegal immigration that we saw over the past four years has resulted in the arrest and removal of historic numbers of violent criminal aliens, transnational gang members and child sex offenders,” Paul McBride, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston acting field office director, said in a press release.
The 214 arrests in the past six months are more than the total number of arrests made by the Houston field office for sex crimes involving a child in all of fiscal 2014, according to ICE. ICE’s Houston office encompasses 57 counties in southeast Texas and stretches along the Gulf Coast from Beaumont to Corpus Christi, then west from Houston to Waco.
ICE said the arrests were part of its effort to arrest the “worst of the worst,” as part of the Trump administration’s effort to remove criminal illegal immigrants from the United States. ICE has been criticized by immigrant rights groups recently for arrests of noncriminal illegal immigrants.
“While we still have a long way to go to truly get this crisis under control, the strides we have made in just six months to make our local communities safer are substantial, and our officers continue to work tirelessly every day to get the worst of the worst criminal aliens out of Southeast Texas to return our communities to places we can all enjoy,” McBride said.
Jesus Gutierrez Mireles, a 67-year-old from Mexico who ICE arrested, has been deported three times. He was previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and driving while intoxicated. He was deported in April.
Jorge Zebra of Mexico was arrested by ICE in March following his convictions of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor and sexual indecency with a minor. The 48-year-old was deported to Mexico that same month.
Manuel Antonio Castro-Juarez, 37, is a twice-deported illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and twice for illegal reentry. He was taken into custody on July 18 and is awaiting deportation.
Mexican national Jose Guadalupe Meza, 40, was arrested in June. Meza was deported four times and convicted of theft and sexual assault of a child. He was deported to Mexico in late June.
Sergio Rolando Galvan Guerrero of Mexico was deported in mid-July after previously being deported three times. Guerrero was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and driving under the influence.
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ICE thanked other federal agencies for their support in arresting illegal immigrants since Trump took office. Those agencies include the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service, and Diplomatic Security Service.
ICE has encouraged the public to report crimes and suspicious activity by calling 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing an online tip form.
