Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested more than a dozen illegal immigrants convicted of sex crimes and violent offenses over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security announced Monday.
The arrests came the same day President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem hosted Angel Families at the White House, honoring Americans who lost loved ones to crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
“While Americans were enjoying their weekends, the heroic men and women of ICE were working around the clock to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens out of our country, including pedophiles, rapists and violent assailants,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.
Among those taken into custody was Gerardo Moran-Cisneros, a Mexican national convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 in Los Angeles. ICE also arrested Jathniel Rei Tangkilisan, an Indonesian national convicted of domestic battery in Hollywood, and Hoang Dung Duong, a Vietnamese national convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in Santa Ana, California.
In New York City, agents picked up Pedro Pichasaca-Dutan, an Ecuadorian national convicted of rape. Across the Hudson River in Somerset County, New Jersey, Victor Ortiz-Ramos, a Mexican national convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a victim under 13, was also arrested.
New Jersey, a sanctuary state, yielded another arrest: Carlos Aparicio-Zarate, a Mexican national convicted of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury in Asbury Park.
The Chicago area produced several high-profile arrests. Martin Villanueva-Arenas, a Mexican national living in Wheaton, Illinois, was taken into custody following his conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault of a child, leaving the scene of an accident, and resisting a peace officer. In Cook County, ICE arrested Jose Parada-Valdivia, convicted of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and Juan Ortiz-Pozos, convicted of aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated battery on a peace officer.
Texas saw two arrests. In Houston, agents apprehended Javid Finton McLawrence, a Grenadian national convicted of indecent assault. In Tarrant County near Dallas, Jeremias Hernandez-Fernandez, a Mexican national convicted of indecency with a child, was also taken into custody.
ICE also arrested Juan Vasquez-Perez, a Mexican national convicted of third-degree sex abuse in Johnson County, Iowa; Esteban De Paz Jimenez, convicted of assault and battery on a family member, aggravated robbery, and preventing the summoning of law enforcement in Caroline County, Virginia; and Claudy Ngoy, a Congolese national convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill in Wake County, North Carolina.
Bis criticized Democratic officials who have resisted cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“Sanctuary politicians and the media ignore the victims of criminal illegal immigrant crime,” Bis said. “Today, President Trump and Secretary Noem met with Angel families and victims at the White House. These victims and their families are why we continue to fight for the arrest and removal of illegal aliens from our communities.”
The arrests spanned at least eight states, including several with sanctuary policies that limit local cooperation with ICE. The agency did not release a total number of arrests for the weekend.
