A previously deported Mexican national with a violent criminal history was arrested Thursday outside Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Houston Field Office after approaching the facility armed with a knife and carrying a crack pipe. Homeland Security officials say the incident underscores the daily dangers faced by immigration officers as they confront rising threats from repeat offenders.
In a statement, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin identified the suspect as Jose Andres Rodriguez-Torrez, a criminal illegal alien who had been removed from the U.S. four times but later released under Biden administration policies.
“These are the types of threats and risks our officers face every single day as they work to remove the worst of the worst,” McLaughlin said. “This violence against federal law enforcement MUST END.”
Officers encountered Rodriguez-Torrez in a restricted parking area outside ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in Houston. As agents approached, the suspect tensed and dropped to the ground, revealing a sheathed knife on his waist. Officers quickly disarmed and detained him. A search uncovered a glass pipe commonly used to smoke crack cocaine.
A biometric background check confirmed Rodriguez-Torrez’s illegal status and extensive immigration history. Since first entering the U.S. near Tecate, California, in 2012, he has been arrested and deported four times. Despite these removals, he reentered the country repeatedly and was most recently released by Seattle authorities in 2024 after a burglary arrest in the sanctuary city.
DHS officials said Rodriguez-Torrez remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. “Thanks to Biden’s open border policies, he was allowed to continue to terrorize Americans,” a DHS statement read.
The arrest follows a September 24 shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, where a gunman opened fire, killing two illegal aliens and injuring a third before taking his own life. DHS reports a 1,000 percent increase in attacks on ICE agents since President Donald Trump began his renewed immigration enforcement initiative earlier this year.
