DHS Announces Arrests of Illegal Immigrants Convicted of Sexual Abuse and Kidnapping

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the arrests of several illegal immigrants with criminal records. The crimes committed included the following: indecency with a minor, continuous sexual abuse of a minor, aggravated sexual assault, and kidnapping.

Through a release issued Monday, the agency led by Homeland Security Secretary Marwayne Mullin said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) will not be "intimidated." In turn, the missive remarked that agents would continue to "remove the worst offenders from U.S. communities."

Among those arrested were Guadalupe Mercado-Guerra, who had previously been convicted of three counts of indecent acts with a minor in Travis County, Texas; Rafael Garcia, convicted of indecent assault and battery and continuous sexual abuse of a minor in Fresno County, California; and Josman Policarpo, sentenced for aggravated sexual assault in Harris County, Texas.

Also listed are Carlos Perez-Mendez, who had been convicted of sexual assault with use of force in Cook County, Illinois; Rafael Disla, sentenced for kidnapping in Orange City, Florida; and Javier Herrera-Moran, convicted of assault and discharging a firearm from a vehicle in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

"Over the weekend, ICE arrested pedophiles, sexual deviants, kidnappers, and other violent thugs. Every day, our law enforcement officers remove heinous criminals from our communities. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you and arrest you. Criminals are not welcome in the U.S.," DHS Undersecretary Lauren Bis said.

In late March, two appeals courts upheld ICE's deportation and detention policy. The rulings determined that DHS has a legal basis to detain people without the possibility of bond before they are deported. The rulings were issued by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In the latter case, the opinion was written by Judge Bobby Shepherd, who noted that the federal government can hold certain immigrants in detention without giving them a bond hearing while their deportation proceedings move forward.