ICE's Houston field office says it arrested 277 noncitizens with criminal records during a targeted two week enforcement operation across Southeast Texas between April 6 and April 17. The agency reports that the people taken into custody had a combined 751 criminal convictions and 654 prior illegal entries into the United States. ICE described those arrested as including murderers, child predators, drug traffickers, gang members, robbers and foreign fugitives, rolling out those details while Houston was in the middle of a fight over how local police should cooperate with federal immigration agents.
ICE released names and case details for several people apprehended in the operation, including Haydee Mercado-Rodriguez, identified as an MS-13 member, and Minh Duy Tong Nguyen, who ICE says was convicted of murder in 1991. Others have already been deported or remain in ICE custody pending removal, according to Click2Houston. The agency told reporters the arrests included 17 people convicted of crimes involving minors, six with homicide-related convictions, 16 drug traffickers, 15 gang members or associates, 67 robbers and 11 hit-and-run convictions. ICE said the operation was carried out with help from federal, state and local law-enforcement partners.
Tied To A City Hall Fight Over ICE
The announcement landed the same day the Houston City Council moved to amend a recently passed ordinance that limited officers’ interaction with ICE, after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold roughly $110 million in public-safety grants, as reported by The Texas Tribune. The council's move, coupled with pressure from the governor's office, set off political fireworks over whether local police should be encouraged to hand suspects over to federal immigration agents.
What ICE Officials Are Saying
“When ICE works with local and state law enforcement partners, communities are safer, illegal aliens are arrested, and the American people are protected,” acting ERO Houston Field Office Director Paul McBride said in a statement, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. McBride warned that limiting cooperation would have “immediate impacts” on public-safety and border security, using that language to argue that local partnerships should continue.
Advocates And Critics Push Back
Advocates and civil-rights groups counter that large-scale interior enforcement can erode trust between immigrant communities and local police and may sweep up people without recent criminal convictions, concerns highlighted in reporting by The Texas Tribune. Legal advocates told reporters the city's ordinance was designed to protect constitutional rights and keep local officers from doing federal immigration work, and they warned that aggressive enforcement tactics can chill cooperation from victims and witnesses who might otherwise call the police.
Custody And Next Steps
ICE said some people arrested in the operation were immediately removed to their home countries while others remain in custody pending immigration proceedings. Click2Houston reported that Carlos Carmona-Palomo was deported April 21 and Luis Hernandez Martinez was deported April 11. ICE officials noted that federal removal proceedings and criminal prosecutions move forward on different tracks, and the agency said transfers and deportations would continue as cases are processed.
This latest round follows a string of large Houston-area operations by ICE over the past year, including a 1,505 arrest sweep last fall, underscoring the Houston field office’s recent emphasis on interior enforcement. Hoodline will monitor local reaction and official updates as more information becomes available.
