(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 1,361 foreign nationals, all in the country illegally, with current felony charges or convictions who were living in the Houston area in June.
Among them were 32 convicted of child sex offenses, nine convicted of homicide-related offenses, 16 documented members of a transnational gang or drug cartel, and one convicted of hijacking an airplane, ICE said.
“Despite attempts by some to undermine our mission by spreading false and malicious rumors, the brave men and women of ICE continue to work tirelessly around the clock targeting dangerous criminal aliens to restore integrity to our nation’s immigration system and bolster public safety in our communities,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez said. “The number of dangerous criminal aliens that they removed from local communities across Southeast Texas last month is just another example of their selfless and unyielding efforts to return our local communities to places where we can all raise our families without having to worry about child predators, gang members, or other violent criminal aliens preying on our loved ones.”
The arrests were part of ICE ERO-Houston field office’s routine immigration enforcement activities conducted throughout southeast Texas in cooperation with federal, state and local law enforcement partners.
ICE highlighted the most egregious offenders arrested, including 52-year-old Cuban national Adermis Wilson-Gonzalez, who was convicted in 2003 of hijacking an airplane traveling from Cuba to Key West, Florida.
Others highlighted are Mexican nationals in the country illegally. One arrest was of Arnulfo Olivares Cervantes, 47, a former Los Mexicles gang member. The gang, based in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, is allied with the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated foreign terrorist organization. Cervantes previously illegally entered the U.S. six times, was twice convicted of trafficking cocaine, and also convicted for attempted murder, evading arrest, illegal entry and drug possession, ICE said.
Others arrested include: Luis Pablo Vasquez-Estolano, 29, previously deported six times, convicted of homicide, aggravated robbery, burglary of a vehicle, and drug possession; Jose Meza, 40, illegally entered the U.S. four times, was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and theft; Javier Escobar Gonzalez, 51, was convicted of sexual indecency with a minor, criminal trespass with a deadly weapon, driving while intoxicated, and unauthorized use of a firearm.
They are the latest of hundreds of Mexican nationals arrested in the Houston area with hundreds of felony convictions. In June, ICE ERO Houston officers deported 142 to Mexico with 473 convictions, including gang members, child sex offenders, human traffickers, The Center Square reported.
ICE ERO Houston officers are also regularly busting drug trafficking schemes in the Houston area, including those using taco trucks and the U.S. Postal Service, The Center Square reported.
They’re also continuing to arrest some of the most dangerous criminal foreign nationals, including alleged terrorists, Chinese spies, those from countries of foreign concern and state sponsors of terrorism like Iran.
Two Iranians recently arrested include one with a 2019 removal order from an immigration judge who was previously arrested for assault, had his student visa terminated and was illegally carrying a loaded handgun when he was arrested. Another had a 2005 removal order whose criminal history includes two convictions for drug crimes and one for driving on a suspended license for which he served time in prison, The Center Square reported.
Federal charter flights also first left Houston in May, removing illegal foreign nationals who choose to self-deport to Honduras and Colombia, The Center Square reported.
