U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers deported 142 criminal illegal aliens to Mexico within the last two weeks. The group of criminal aliens arrested in the Houston metro racked up 473 separate criminal convictions. Together, the group had entered the United States illegally 480 times.
Houston-based ICE ERO officers carried out deportations of serious criminal offenders as the agency has ramped up mass deportation efforts nationwide. According to ICE, the removals that took place between May 19 and May 30 included eight documented gang members, 11 previously convicted child predators, and a criminal alien responsible for entering the United States illegally more than 20 times.
In a Tuesday press release, ICE identified several of the aliens deported and their previous criminal convictions. The most egregious offenders included:
- Benito Charqueno Zavala, a 60-year-old criminal alien from Mexico and convicted child predator, was deported to Mexico on May 21 and had been convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
- Johnny Urbina Carillo, a 37-year-old criminal alien from Mexico and convicted child predator, was deported to Mexico on May 20 and had illegally entered the U.S. twice and been convicted of sexually exploiting a minor, cocaine possession, and illegal reentry.
- Alejandro Aguilar Vazquez, a 45-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, deported to Mexico May 19, who has illegally entered the U.S. 19 times and been convicted three times of cruelty towards a child and DWI, and once for filing a false report and illegal entry.
- Jorge Arturo Silva-Solano, a 35-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, who was deported to Mexico May 19 and has illegally entered the U.S. 11 times and been convicted three times for criminal mischief and illegal reentry, twice for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and once for DWI, trespassing, illegal entry, failure to provide an ID to law enforcement, public intoxication and failure to appear.
- Luis Angel Garcia-Contreras, a 40-year-old criminal alien from Mexico and documented Surenos 13 gang member, was deported to Mexico on May 29, who has illegally entered the U.S. 21 times and been convicted of illegal entry four times.
- Jose Antonio Mauricio-Rodriquez, a 32-year-old criminal alien and documented Paisas gang member, deported to Mexico May 27, who has illegally entered the U.S. 11 times and been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, domestic violence, failure to provide an ID to law enforcement, failure to report to his parole officer, and illegal reentry twice.
Among the criminal offenses that the group had been convicted of were 11 child sex offenses, 21 weapons violations, 48 drug trafficking or drug-related offenses, 30 for burglary and theft-related crimes, three for child cruelty, 43 aggravated assault/domestic violence-related convictions, and others.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the increase in arrests has led to protests organized by migrant rights groups and other activist organizations that include the Party for Socialism and Liberation. A Monday afternoon protest near the federal immigration courthouse in San Antonio drew a meager crowd of protesters, some of whom held signs comparing ICE to the Gestapo and in support of pro-Palestine protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil.
The increase in immigration enforcement activity in Texas and elsewhere comes after Trump administration officials called for an increase in ICE arrests, setting 3,000 per day as the latest goal.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.