Federal officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 86 criminal aliens and immigration violators in North Texas and Oklahoma during a three-day enforcement action, which ended Thursday.
During this operation, ERO deportation officers made arrests in the following Texas cities and towns:
Abilene (3), Amarillo (3), Alvarado (2), Arlington (3), Athens (1), Breckenridge (2), Corsicana (1), Dallas (11), Denton (2), Fort Worth (3), Friona (2), Garland (1), Grand Prairie (1), Greenville (3), Hereford (8), Jacksonville (1), Kaufman (1), Longview (3), Lubbock (11), Mansfield (1), McKinney (1), Plano (1) and Terrell (4).
A total of 16 arrests were made in Oklahoma in the cities of Oklahoma City (11) and Tulsa (5).
Of the 86 arrested, 55 had criminal convictions; 82 were men and four were women. They range in age from 19 to 61 years old.
Aliens arrested during this operation are from the following countries: Mexico (55), Guatemala (10), El Salvador (6), Honduras (4) Bangladesh (3), Cameroon (1) Jordan (1), Laos (1), Liberia (1), Nigeria (1), Panama (1), Philippines (1) and Zimbabwe (1).
Most of the aliens targeted by ERO deportation officers during this operation had prior criminal histories that included convictions for the following crimes:
- Sexually exploiting a minor
- Assault or aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, drug possession
- Burglary, obstructing police, larceny, or manufacturing methamphetamine
- Firearms offense, smuggling, receiving stolen property, illegally entering the U.S., or driving under the influence (DUI)
(See ICE’s National Fugitive Operations Program team in Action. Courtesy of ICE and YouTube)
Twenty one of those arrested illegally re-entered the United States after having been previously deported, which is a felony.
Depending on an alien’s criminality, an alien who re-enters the United States after having been previously deported commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, if convicted.
The following are criminal summaries of five offenders arrested in North Texas and Oklahoma during this operation:
- Jan. 24 — A 43-year-old citizen of Mexico was arrested by in Breckenridge, Texas.
- He entered the United States in 1996 as a U.S. permanent resident.
- He was convicted in 2011 of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 10 years’ probation.
- This felony conviction renders him removable.
- He is in ICE custody pending an immigration hearing before a federal immigration judge.
- Jan. 24 — A 27-year-old citizen of Cameroon was arrested in Abilene, Texas.
- He legally entered the U.S. in 2014.
- In 2018 he was convicted of possessing child pornography and sentenced to two years’ probation.
- This felony conviction renders him removable.
- He is in ICE custody pending an immigration hearing before a federal immigration judge.
- Jan. 24 — A 37-year-old illegal alien from Guatemala was arrested in Dallas.
- He is pending criminal prosecution on multiple counts related to continuously assaulting a child under 14.
- He is currently in ICE custody pending disposition of his criminal charges.
- Jan. 25 — A 57-year-old citizen of Bangladesh was arrested in Dallas.
- He legally entered the U.S. in 1994 on a temporary visitor visa.
- In 2017, he was convicted of manufacture/delivery of methamphetamine and sentenced to two years’ probation.
- He is in ICE custody pending an immigration hearing before a federal immigration judge.
- Jan. 25 — A 26-year-old citizen of Mexico was arrested in Corsicana, Texas.
- He legally entered the U.S. as a U.S. permanent resident.
- However, he is removable based on his convictions for the following crimes: invasive visual recording bath/dress room, criminal trespass, criminal mischief, and burglary of building.
- He is in ICE custody pending an immigration hearing before a federal immigration judge.
“This operation focused on targeting immigration fugitives and criminal aliens in North Texas and the state of Oklahoma, but we routinely conduct operations daily,” said Bret Bradford, field office director of ERO Dallas.
“By removing criminal aliens from the streets, our ICE officers provide a valuable community service by improving public safety.”
The Dallas area of responsibility includes 128 counties in North Texas and Oklahoma.
All of the targets in this operation were amenable to arrest and removal under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act.
ICE deportation officers carry out targeted enforcement operations daily nationwide as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.
These operations involve existing and established Fugitive Operations Teams.
During targeted enforcement operations, ICE officers frequently encounter other aliens illegally present in the United States.
These aliens are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and, when appropriate, they are arrested by ICE officers.
