95 arrested in 5-day Houston-area ICE roundup

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Federal immigration officers arrested 95 foreign nationals and others throughout southeast Texas during a five-day enforcement action, which ended Friday.

The operation began April 17 and Houston ERO officers made arrests in the following Texas counties: Brazoria (7), Ft. Bend (2), Galveston (4), Harris (59), Liberty (3), Matagorda (4), Montgomery (13), and Wharton (3).

Of those arrested, 87 were men and eight were women.

All the foreign nationals targeted during this enforcement action had prior criminal convictions, according to ICE and ERO officers.

The majority of those arrested - 82 of the 95 - had criminal histories that included convictions for the following crimes: homicide, aggravated assault, assault, burglary of a vehicle, child abuse, domestic violence, cocaine possession, fraud, driving under the influence, drug trafficking, felony marijuana possession, illegal entry, larceny, possessing a controlled substance, and weapons possession.

Individuals arrested during this operation are from the following countries: Cambodia (1), Cuba (1), El Salvador (8), Guatemala (3), Honduras (11), Mexico (66), Nicaragua (2), Nigeria (1) and Vietnam (2).

Following are criminal summaries of five arrested during this operation:

• April 20, a 55-year-old citizen of El Salvador was arrested without incident in Houston. Convicted of manslaughter. Previously deported from the United States in April 1987.
• April 19, a 32-year-old citizen of Mexico was arrested without incident in Houston. A Barrio North Side gang member with convictions for marijuana possession, unlawfully carrying a firearm and evading arrest. He was previously removed from the United States in September 2006.
• April 21, a 44-year-old citizen of Mexico was arrested near his home by Houston Fugitive Operations Team members. Moreno has criminal convictions for illegally carrying a weapon, vehicle theft, aggravated robbery and robbery.
• April 19, a 68-year-old citizen and national of Cuba, was arrested at his residence in Houston. Was previously convicted twice for robbery and twice for burglary of habitation.
• April 18, a 25-year-old citizen and national of Mexico was arrested without incident in Houston. He has a criminal conviction for indecency with a child by exposure.

"This operation was focused on fugitives and criminal aliens," said Patrick Contreras, field office director of the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Houston. "Public safety remains a top priory for ICE. This was a focused four-day operation, but our routine operations occur daily."

All of the targets in this operation were subject to arrest and removal under the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE officials said.

During the targeted enforcement operations, ICE officers frequently encounter others illegally present in the United States. They are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and, when appropriate, they are arrested by ICE officers.

In fiscal year 2016, ICE conducted 240,255 removals nationwide. Of those who had been removed from the United States, 92 percent had previously been convicted of a crime.