Federal prosecutors in Houston said Thursday that Operation Pick-Off has now reached the city, leading to the arrests of several foreign nationals whom authorities say committed state crimes while living in the United States unlawfully. The detainees, from Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador, are accused of illegally reentering the U.S. after previous removals and now face federal illegal-reentry charges. Officials described the expansion as part of a sustained multi-agency push that targets people on probation or supervision who have prior convictions for violent or narcotics offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei named five people arrested in the Houston area and said, "Our office created Operation Pick-Off based upon an extremely simple concept—that a state probation sentence should not be a sanctuary from federal immigration laws." The office said federal agents from ICE-ERO, HSI and FBI-Houston carried out the operations and that the arrestees remain in custody while their federal cases move forward.
“Operation Pick‑Off” expands to Houston with arrests of foreign nationals who committed crimes while unlawfully living in the U.S. https://x.com/i/status/2029666292173562362
— US Attorney SDTX (@usao_sdtx) March 5, 2026
Who Was Arrested And Why
The U.S. Attorney’s Office identified the defendants as Guatemalan nationals Karen Paola Cabeza-Magana (also known as Karen Hernandez), 29, and Julio Gonzalez-Portillo, 54; Mexican nationals David Rodriguez Solis, 52, and Jose Garcia Zamora, 39; and Salvadoran national Jose Mario Alvarado (also known as Julio Mario Alvarado), 57. Authorities say all five had at least one prior removal from the United States and were on probation or supervision following state convictions for offenses that include assault, aggravated assault of a family member, driving under the influence and narcotics violations. They are now accused of illegally reentering the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.
How Operation Pick-Off Works
Federal officials said Operation Pick-Off began in August 2025 in the Rio Grande Valley as a multi-agency effort to identify criminal non-citizens who were living in the U.S. unlawfully while on state probation. The initiative has since been used in other divisions of the Southern District of Texas, including Laredo, and has now moved into Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties before the latest Houston arrests, according to federal announcements and local coverage. For earlier reporting on the campaign in South Texas see Over 350 Charged in South Texas.
What Comes Next
Assistant U.S. attorneys in Houston will handle the illegal-reentry prosecutions, federal officials said, and Operation Pick-Off will continue on a rolling basis as agents locate other alleged offenders. The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized that "a criminal complaint or indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence," and noted that every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Future court filings and dockets will lay out whether prosecutors seek indictments or additional charges and when any hearings are scheduled.
