Houston — In just two weeks, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in this city reported that it arrested 277 undocumented immigrants with criminal histories, who have been convicted of a total of 751 crimes and entered the United States illegally 654 times. The arrests occurred between April 6 and 17, and include 17 pedophiles, six murderers, 16 drug traffickers, 15 gang members or associates, 67 thieves, two foreign fugitives sought for murder, and 11 foreigners convicted of hit-and-run.
ICE carried out the arrests with the help of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. “These arrests, which have caused great upheaval, occur as the Houston City Council and the Harris County Commissioners Court continue considering the possibility of sanctuary policies to limit cooperation with ICE,” the agency said.
“President Trump and Secretary Mullin know that when ICE collaborates with local and state law enforcement, communities are safer, undocumented immigrants are arrested, and the American people are protected,” said Paul McBride, Acting Field Office Director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston.
“Thanks to these collaborations, we have removed from the local community hundreds of dangerous criminals, including pedophiles, murderers, drug traffickers, gang members, and thieves, in just two weeks, and we have prevented an incalculable number of American citizens from becoming victims.”
“If these measures to limit that cooperation are implemented, there will be immediate repercussions in public safety, national security, and border security,” McBride continued. “Tragically, the worst impact will be borne by the immigrant community that these same officials say they protect, because that is where undocumented immigrants with criminal histories commit the majority of their crimes.”
Among the undocumented immigrants with criminal records arrested by ICE in the Houston area over the past two weeks is Haydee Mercado-Rodríguez, 34, identified as a member of El Salvador’s MS-13 gang, who was sentenced to 228 years for two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated extortion and participation in a terrorist organization before fleeing to the United States in 2024, where she remained at large until her arrest on April 9.
