Texas: ICE raid arrests more than 550 immigrants on criminal charges in Houston

The arrests occurred during a week-long operation conducted between February 23 and March 2 to enhance public safety, homeland security and border security.

Immigrants at the southwest borderCordon Press.

Published by

Williams Perdomo

March 11, 2025

2 minutes read

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that, in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement, it arrested 646 undocumented aliens. Those arrested included 543 criminal aliens and seven gang members.

The arrests occurred during a week-long operation conducted between Feb. 23 and March 2 in the Houston area to enhance public safety, national security and border security.

During the operation, ICE and its partners executed 71 criminal warrants and arrested 543 undocumented aliens who were charged with or convicted of a criminal offense while unlawfully present in the United States.

"In just one week working alongside our counterparts from federal, state and local law enforcement, ICE HSI special agents successfully executed 71 criminal arrest warrants and made 554 administrative arrests that included illegally present human smugglers, gang members, human traffickers, child sex offenders, drug traffickers and weapons traffickers," said Chad Plantz, special agent in charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Houston.

In that regard, ICE detailed that among those arrested were:

140 criminal aliens charged with or convicted of an aggravated felony or other violent felony such as homicide, aggravated assault or domestic violence.
34 criminal aliens charged with or convicted of a sex offense or child sex offense, such as aggravated sexual assault of a minor, possession of child pornography or rape.
38 criminal aliens convicted of firearms-related offenses, such as unlawful carrying of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien, and aggravated assault with a firearm.
52 criminal aliens charged with or convicted of unlawful narcotics offenses, such as drug trafficking or possession of a controlled substance.
51 criminal aliens charged with or convicted of property crimes, such as burglary or theft.
93 criminal aliens charged with or convicted of driving while intoxicated.

For his part, Bret Bradford, director of ICE's Houston Field Office of Detention and Removal Operations, highlighted that in recent years criminals have taken advantage of the border crisis to illegally enter the United States.

"After illegally entering the country, many of these criminal aliens have gone on to commit violent crime and reign terror on law-abiding residents. Fueled by our unwavering commitment to protect the public from harm, and united in our determination to restore integrity to our nation’s system of laws, ICE and our law enforcement partners in Southeast Texas have banded together to remove these dangerous criminal aliens from our local communities and put an end to the lawlessness that they spread," Bradford highlighted.