News Releases and Statements

Jesus Molina-Veya, a 45-year-old citizen of Mexico in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was pronounced deceased by medical professionals at the Phoebe Sumter Hospital in Americus, at 6:42 p.m. on June 7

As a result of the operation, ten (10) Chinese-national females were detained by HSI for further identification and removal processing. Interviews are currently being conducted to determine removability.

John Mangan, 78, of Lanoka Harbor, pleaded guilty June 10 to an information charging him with one count of possession of child pornography at the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in Trenton.

The worksite enforcement operation, in which more than 70 illegal aliens were detained, is the largest to take place in Nebraska since the start of the current presidential administration that has prioritized immigration enforcement efforts and strengthened focus on border security.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Detroit arrested two criminal aliens in Detroit June 10. Ahmad Fareez Thabateh, 49, a Palestinian, and Kassim Saleh Wasil, 70, a Yemeni, who will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 12 illegal aliens on June 9 during a targeted worksite enforcement operation at two business locations, one in Harlingen and one in San Benito, Texas.

The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Ergashev near San Luis, Arizona, on Feb. 14, 2023, for entering the United States without inspection or parole by an immigration official.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement led a Department of Homeland Security effort of returning 122 illegal aliens to the Peoples Republic of China June 3. The flight manifest included 96 males and 26 females with final orders for removal coming from ICE detention facilities across the country. Ages ranged from 19 to 68.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation apprehended a 24-year-old, illegally present Salvadoran national and documented member of the notorious MS-13 criminal gang. Officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston working with agents from ICE Homeland Security Investigations New England and FBI Boston arrested William Alberto Villalobos-Melendez May 14 in Brockton.

The operation resulted in the administrative arrests of three illegal aliens from Mexico: Miguel Bruno-Vasquez, Vicente Coyotecal Matias and Jesus Gallardo-Bautista. Additionally, Geoli Perez-Santana, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was arrested. All were illegally working in the United States.

While in the U.S. illegally, Tam, a 42-year-old citizen of Hong Kong, was arrested in January 2003 and ultimately convicted of mail fraud for an offense that occurred in Buffalo, New York. Later, he was arrested in February 2010 and ultimately convicted of sexual misconduct for an offense that occurred in Tonawonda, New York.

"Our brave officers were vastly outnumbered, as over 1,000 rioters surrounded and attacked a federal building. It took over two hours for the Los Angeles Police Department to respond, despite being called multiple times. The brave men and women of ICE were in Los Angeles arresting criminal illegal aliens including gang members, drug traffickers and those with a history of assault, cruelty to children, domestic violence, robbery, and smuggling."

These sanctions target drug traffickers utilizing boats and narco-subs to traffic ton-quantities of cocaine, along with an alleged corrupt Guyanese law enforcement official. The sanctions also target individuals who are operating covert airstrips to traffic drugs via aircraft.

Mario Demarco, aka Marius Lupu aka David Adamec, 30, pleaded guilty in January to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced June 3 to 33 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. Additionally, the court ordered Demarco to pay restitution totaling $16,567.06.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with the support of Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Marshals Service, arrested 25 illegal aliens June 4 during a targeted worksite enforcement operation that took place at two construction sites, South Padre Island and Brownsville, Texas.

Jose Angel Ibarra-Rojas, 36, was sentenced on June 4 by U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton to serve 132 months in federal prison. At the hearing, the court heard how the narcotics were packaged in a sophisticated manner. The heads of the cabbages were removed, and balls of methamphetamine were then inserted into the leaves in order to conceal them. Not a U.S. citizen, he is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. Ibarra-Rojas pleaded guilty Nov. 6, 2024.

The total number of active F-1 and M-1 student records in SEVIS was 1,582,808 in calendar year 2024, an increase of 5.3 percent from calendar year 2023. These foreign students were from more than 229 countries and territories.

Edgar Javier Escobedo Castillo, an 18-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was criminally arrested for possession of child sexual abuse material.

In February 2025, the Department of Homeland Security and its federal and state partners launched a national child welfare initiative to locate and verify these at-risk kids’ safety.

Jaime Renteria-Fernandez, 31, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is charged in a superseding indictment with nine counts related to alleged offenses committed in support of the Barraza drug trafficking organization. Co-conspirator Alex Barraza was the leader of the DTO and was sentenced to life in federal prison Oct. 24, 2024.

An El Paso, Texas, woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a hostage-taking conspiracy involving the forcible detention and extortion of the victims. The defendant was involved in the hostage-taking conspiracy while serving a term of federal supervised release for a prior alien smuggling conviction.

A Colorado man was sentenced in a federal court May 27 in Alpine to 240 months in prison for distributing fentanyl to a Texas resident as a result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

An investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Maryland; along with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, led to the sentencing of Douglas Anthony Eze, 55, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, for visa fraud.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested a Tajikistan-born Russian national who is wanted overseas.

On June 1, ICE received a tip from an anonymous caller reporting that multiple illegal aliens were being harbored at a residence in Mercedes. ICE contacted the Mercedes Police Department, which conducted a welfare check of the property. Authorities spoke to the owner of the property who admitted to harboring approximately 16 individuals inside the home.