Six months into President Donald Trump's second term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested 356 criminal gang members who were in the Houston area illegally.
According to ICE, just 75 gang members were arrested in the same area in the first six months of the Biden administration. That's a 375% increase in arrests of illegal alien gang members under the Trump administration.
In 2021, the ICE Houston field office arrested 115 gang members in the entire year, the agency said in a release.
Collectively, the 356 gang members were convicted of 1,685 criminal offenses including murder, child sex crimes, sex trafficking, arson, and theft.
ICE arrested members of more than 40 different gangs, including 39 MS-13 gang members, 25 Tren de Aragua gang members, six Latin Kings gang members, 159 Paisas gang members, and 26 Tango Blast gang members, the agency said.
"Thanks to President Trump and [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, these illegal alien gang members are off America's streets," Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. "Across the country, ICE law enforcement is targeting these vicious gangs that rape, maim, and murder Americans for sport.
"President Trump and Secretary [Kristi] Noem unleashed ICE to dismantle transnational criminal terrorist gangs. In the Houston area alone, we have already arrested more than three times as many gang members as the Biden administration arrested in Houston in all of 2021. The days of unchecked gang violence are OVER."
As federal immigration enforcement actions continue, Noem said last week that there has been a spike in assaults against ICE agents as they carry out Trump's mass deportation mandate.
"Our brave ICE law enforcement are now facing a 1000% increase in assaults against them as they risk their lives to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens," Noem wrote in a post on X. "These acts of violence are fueled by sanctuary politicians rhetoric vilifying our law enforcement.
"We will not and have not let this violence stop us or slow us down. Everyday our law enforcement continues to enforce the law and arrest the most depraved criminals including pedophiles, terrorists, murderers, gang members, and sexual predators."
The criminal illegal aliens profiled in the release from ICE Houston were deported between four and 15 times and had convictions ranging from drug trafficking and sexual assault to fraud, aggravated assault of a police officer and kidnapping.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.