Federal immigration agents swept through Dallas over two days in March, arresting three men who officials say are tied to violent international crime. The March 18 and 19 operation, according to federal authorities, netted a documented member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua, an admitted MS-13 member and a Venezuelan man linked to a vehicle-theft ring.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Jhonny Colmenares-Sepulveda, Fernando Avilez-Romero and Fabian Rodriguez-Ortiz into custody during the targeted sweep, according to The Dallas Express. Officials identified Colmenares-Sepulveda as a Venezuelan Tren de Aragua member who entered the United States in August 2023 near Brownsville and was previously released under the Biden administration. Authorities said Avilez-Romero admitted to being a member of MS-13, first entered the country illegally in 2013 and later received a green card. Rodriguez-Ortiz, they said, was pegged as connected to a vehicle-theft ring and had a final removal order issued in November 2025.
Federal officials have been leaning into a wider interior-enforcement push that has zeroed in on transnational gangs and on Venezuelan nationals in particular. The Dallas Morning News analysis found ICE arrests of Venezuelans in the North Texas area jumped sharply in 2025 and left many residents on edge. Similar multi-day operations have been carried out in other states as well, including a March 2025 sweep in Massachusetts that resulted in about 370 arrests, according to ABC6.
What officials said
Department of Homeland Security leaders described the Dallas arrests as part of a carefully planned, high-impact push rather than a random roundup. The agency called it a "targeted multi-day operation" that produced high-impact arrests. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis praised the agents on the ground, saying, "Our law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to arrest and remove public safety threats from American communities," according to The Dallas Express.
Community reaction
The stepped-up enforcement has rippled through Dallas' Venezuelan community, where many say they came to the United States to escape violence and now feel caught in the middle of a different kind of crackdown. Immigration attorneys report a surge in anxious calls from clients trying to figure out whether they might be next. Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an immigration lawyer, told The Dallas Morning News that she has been warning Venezuelan clients they could be targeted under the heightened focus on their community.
What comes next
For those picked up in interior-enforcement actions like this one, the next steps rarely move quickly. People are typically placed into immigration proceedings that can involve detention, a Notice to Appear, and a series of hearings before an immigration judge. Those judges decide whether the government has proved that someone is removable and whether that person qualifies for relief such as asylum. Congressional analyses note that backlogs in the Executive Office for Immigration Review can leave cases hanging for years, and that removal proceedings remain administrative, not criminal, matters, according to the Congressional Research Service.
