Category: Department of homeland security
Yes, ICE Agents Can Defend Themselves From People Using Cars As Murder Weapons
Vehicles are deadly weapons, and crazed lunatics using them that way should expect a proportionate response.
Minneapolis Mayor Blames ICE For Car-Ramming Attack On Immigration Enforcement Officers
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decided to blame federal law enforcement agents on Wednesday for the fatal shooting of a woman who apparently attempted to ram her vehicle into an officer. According to Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, “ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and […]
Historic ICE hiring surge adds 12,000 as agency kicks off 2026 with major busts
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders over the first weekend of the new year, according to a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.
The Department of Homeland Security recently announced “a historic 120% increase in manpower,” stating that it has added over 12,000 new ICE officers and agents following a successful recruitment campaign that received over 220,000 applications.
“With these new patriots on the team, we will be able to accomplish what many say was impossible and fulfill President Trump’s promise to make America safe again,” the DHS stated.
A DHS press release highlighted 15 “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens arrested by ICE over the first weekend of the new year.
‘Over the weekend, ICE arrested murderers, stalkers, rapists, and gang members.’
Jose Cano-Cruz, a Mexican national, was previously convicted of homicide and aggravated stalking in Muscogee County, Georgia.
RELATED: Leftist radicals doxx ICE agents with ‘WANTED’ flyers in Pennsylvania
Jose Cano-Cruz. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Waheed Allah Mohammad, an Afghan national, was convicted of attempted murder and first-degree assault in Monroe County, New York. A 2009 NPR report stated that the then 22-year-old admitted to stabbing his 19-year-old sister, whom he reportedly described as a “bad Muslim girl” for trying to leave her family to start a new life in New York City.
Waheed Allah Mohammad. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE agents nabbed Carlos Danilo Barrera, a known Florencia 13 gang member from El Salvador. He was previously convicted of second-degree murder in Los Angeles, California.
Carlos Danilo Barrera. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Federal immigration officials detained Ruben Pulido-Cortes. The Mexican national was convicted of rape in Queens, New York.
Ruben Pulido-Cortes. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Leonel Rodriguez-Garcia, from Mexico, was also picked up by ICE agents over the weekend. He was convicted of kidnapping in Kern County, California.
Leonel Rodriguez-Garcia. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Uriel Segovia-Leon, a Mexican national, was convicted of battery resulting in serious bodily injury in Lake County, Indiana.
Uriel Segovia-Leon. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Federal agents arrested Duane Alando Spence from Jamaica. His criminal history includes a conviction for aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm in Miami, Florida.
Duane Alando Spence. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Patricio Hernandez-Gomez, a Mexican national, was convicted of first-degree unlawful imprisonment in Perry County, Kentucky. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Patricio Hernandez-Gomez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE arrested Mexican national Yessenia Monserrat Monje-Orozco. Her criminal history includes convictions for possession of prohibited ammo and a controlled substance, as well as vehicle theft in San Luis Obispo, California.
Yessenia Monserrat Monje-Orozco. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Thinh Troung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, was previously convicted of armed robbery in Lexington, Oklahoma.
Thinh Troung Nguyen. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Federal agents arrested Esteban Reyes-Cortes, an illegal alien criminal from Mexico. He was convicted in Tallahassee, Florida, for battery and disorderly conduct and in Decatur, Georgia, for entering an automobile with intent to commit theft.
Esteban Reyes-Cortes. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Jose Antonio Poblete-Velasquez, from Chile, was convicted of burglary in Ventura, California. According to the Irvine Police Department, officers observed Poblete-Velasquez and an accomplice distract an elderly shopper at a grocery store to steal her wallet and phone. Police were surveilling the Chilean national following reports of a separate incident where credit cards from a stolen wallet were used to make several fraudulent purchases.
Jose Antonio Poblete-Velasquez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Immigration agents captured Luis Alberto Medel-Miranda, a Mexican national who was previously convicted for driving while impaired in Rockingham County, North Carolina.
Luis Alberto Medel-Miranda. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Kevin Ruiz-Gonzalez, an illegal alien from Honduras, was convicted of criminal possession of a weapon in Bronx, New York.
Kevin Ruiz-Gonzalez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE also nabbed Harvy Gomez-Alaniz, from Nicaragua. He was previously convicted of evading arrest or detention in San Antonio, Texas.
Harvy Gomez-Alaniz. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
“The first year of the Trump administration marked record-breaking progress in removing criminal illegal aliens, and DHS will be doubling down on those accomplishments in 2026 with our more than 12,000 new officers and agents,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated. “Over the weekend, ICE arrested murderers, stalkers, rapists, and gang members.”
President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “unleashed ICE to get criminal illegal aliens off our streets and out of our country,” McLaughlin added.
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Making a list and checking it twice: ICE’s year-end roundup of the most heinous illegal alien invaders
Over the past 11 months, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies have worked to put away numerous murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, drug traffickers, and terrorists.
The Department of Homeland Security listed over a dozen of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens who were arrested by federal law enforcement agents in 2025 in a press release exclusively obtained by Blaze News.
The department stated that 70% of ICE’s arrests were illegal aliens who were either convicted of or charged with a crime in the United States.
‘Americans can be proud of DHS law enforcement who worked around the clock this year to remove the worst of the worst from American neighborhoods.’
The DHS year-end roundup highlighted ICE New Orleans’ arrest of Olvin Rodriguez-Inestroza, a Honduran national with active warrants for 394 counts of pornography involving juveniles and two counts of sexual abuse of an animal.
In July, the then-22-year-old pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography after investigators found hundreds of disturbing photos and videos on his phone, including some involving toddlers.
Olvin Rodriguez-Inestroza. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Federal agents also arrested Diego Barron-Esquivel, a Mexican national who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for violently assaulting and strangling an ICE officer in February in Wichita, Kansas. Barron-Esquivel was accused of consistently harassing his former spouse, and he was previously arrested on multiple counts of domestic battery, protection order violations, aggravated robbery, felony theft, and other offenses.
Diego Barron-Esquivel. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Jaan Shah Safi, an Afghan national, entered the country under former President Joe Biden’s “Operation Allies Welcome” in 2021. He was previously arrested for allegedly providing support to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-Khorasan, also referred to as ISIS-K. According to the DHS, Safi provided weapons to his father, who is a commander of an Afghan militia group. The DHS announced in early December that ICE agents arrested Safi in Waynesboro, Virginia, after his Temporary Protected Status application was terminated.
Jaan Shah Safi. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE captured Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto, an MS-13 gang member from Honduras who is believed to have illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 after he allegedly bribed his way out of jail in his home country. He is wanted in Honduras for a quadruple homicide and is an alleged member of an assassination squad. Federal immigration agents caught up to Cuadra Soto in Grand Island, Nebraska, on December 8.
Gerson Emir Cuadra Soto. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Jose Alfredo Uzeta, a Mexican national, was accused of performing dental procedures without a license. He was convicted of dentistry act violation and indecent assault in Harris County, Texas.
Jose Alfredo Uzeta. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa, from Mexico, was accused of running a sex trafficking operation in Miami, Florida, with his family. ICE Los Angeles arrested Cadena-Sosa in San Pedro, California, in December. According to the Department of Justice, he and his family approached females, some as young as 14, in Mexico to lure them into the U.S. under false promises of work opportunities. Once in the U.S., they allegedly imposed a smuggling debt and used threats and violence to force the females into engaging in prostitution 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Rafael Alberto Cadena-Sosa. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE agents also rounded up Antonio Israel Lazo-Quintanilla, from El Salvador, who is a confirmed gang member of the 18th Street Gang, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization. He is wanted in his home country for aggravated homicide, extortion, drug possession, and other felonies. Federal agents nabbed Lazo-Quintanilla in March.
Antonio Israel Lazo-Quintanilla. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, from El Salvador, was convicted of sexual assault of a child under 17 years old. His criminal history also includes multiple DUIs, child fondling, and illegal re-entering of the U.S. During his November arrest, the convicted pedophile allegedly assaulted an ICE officer with a metal coffee cup, resulting in a laceration that required 13 stitches.
Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE agents arrested Thao Van Cao, a Vietnamese national who is a member of the Asian Cheap Boy criminal gang. His lengthy rap sheet includes 25 convictions for crimes such as flight to avoid prosecution, possession of a controlled substance, second-degree robbery, cruelty toward the elderly, arson, and theft.
Thao Van Cao. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Aldrin Guerrero-Munoz was picked up by federal immigration agents in October. The criminal illegal alien was previously sentenced to 32 years in prison for the intentional murder of his 3-month-old son.
Aldrin Guerrero-Munoz. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
ICE apprehended Jung Choi, a 53-year-old from South Korea. She was sentenced to 11 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter after she and her male companion were accused of murdering his wife.
Jung Choi. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Jonatan Monzon-Olivares, a Guatemalan national, was taken off the street in August. He had been arrested 38 times with 15 convictions for crimes including sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, possession of stolen property, and obstructing justice.
Jonatan Monzon-Olivares. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Federal agents nabbed Alejandro Lima-Ramirez, who was previously arrested two dozen times in California and Oregon. He has 16 convictions, including for drug trafficking, robbery, fraud, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Alejandro Lima-Ramirez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
In August, ICE agents apprehended Michael Kabiona, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he was found guilty in 2015 of repeatedly raping his stepdaughter, starting when she was 9 years old.
Michael Kabiona. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Pedro Luis Ortiz-Mendez and Jose Vicente Ortiz-Mendez, brothers from Mexico, were also arrested by federal immigration agents in August. The two men are wanted in their home country for multiple murders.
Pedro Luis Ortiz-Mendez and Jose Vicente Ortiz-Mendez. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
Lastly, the DHS highlighted this year’s arrest of Yehia Elham Badawi, an Egyptian national with a lengthy criminal record, including robbery, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment, among other violent felonies. His convictions stem from a 1994 shoot-out that seriously injured a Philadelphia police officer.
Yehia Elham Badawi. Image source: Department of Homeland Security
“Americans can be proud of DHS law enforcement who worked around the clock this year to remove the worst of the worst from American neighborhoods. Our law enforcement has put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and terrorists,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.
McLaughlin stated that under the leadership of President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, “criminals are not welcome in the U.S. If you come to our country and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you.”
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DHS to send illegal aliens ‘home for the holidays’ with new Christmastime incentive
The Department of Homeland Security is running an end-of-year Christmas special to further incentivize illegal aliens to self-deport.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the department will be tripling the cash incentives from $1,000 to $3,000, urging illegal aliens to leave the country on their own. Illegal aliens who choose to self-deport through the CBP Home App will receive this bonus through the end of the year and may be eligible to re-enter the country legally in the future.
‘We’ll buy your ticket.’
“Well, it’s home for the holidays season,” Noem said on “Fox & Friends” Monday.
“Not only are we returning those kiddos back to their families that Biden lost, we also are saying that if you voluntarily want to go home now to your country, if you’re in this United States of America illegally, we will give you $3,000 through the holidays to send you home,” Noem added.
Photo by ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, an estimated 1.9 million migrants have self-deported and another 622,000 have been removed by law enforcement. Noem is looking to boost those numbers, noting that illegal aliens who self-deport may have a future path to legal residency unlike migrants who are deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other law enforcement agencies.
“We’ll buy your ticket, give you $3,000 to go home, and that includes people that have not been detained, maybe have interacted with us, are detained and don’t have criminal charges against them,” Noem said. “Raise your hand! We’ll help you get home. We’ll facilitate it, and you might get the chance to come back to this country the right way someday.”
Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images
“If you wait until we interdict you and detain you and arrest you and have to deport you ourselves, you’ll never get the chance to come back.”
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‘Disastrous program’: Trump administration pauses ‘diversity’ visa Brown University shooter used to enter United States
The United States has paused a visa program after shocking details emerged in the Brown University shooting investigation.
Late Thursday night, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the pause of the DV1 program, a visa lottery system that the Brown University shooter, identified as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, reportedly used to obtain a green card.
‘At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.’
“The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” Secretary Noem said on X. “In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people.”
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program,” Noem added.
Valente, who is also believed to be responsible for the recent slaying of an MIT physics professor, was found dead inside a storage facility Thursday night.
The DV1 program, also known as the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, makes up to 55,000 visas available to immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The program is “random and blind to the number of family members who might immigrate with the selectee,” according to the State Department website.
The 2026 visa lottery drew from 20,822,624 applicants from over 170 counties all around the world, according to State Department statistics.
The top 10 countries, from highest volume to lowest are: Egypt, Russia, Algeria, Ukraine, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kenya, Nepal, and Morocco. Other countries that broke 3,000 are Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey.
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Illegal alien bus driver who can’t speak English allegedly kills American while ‘distracted by a video on his phone’
An American citizen was killed in a multi-vehicle pileup in Tennessee last week after an illegal alien bus driver allegedly rear-ended a semi-truck while driving along I-40.
This marks the latest fatal crash tied to an illegal alien who obtained a commercial driver’s license in the United States despite unlawful status.
‘Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semi-trucks and big rigs.’
Yisong Huang, a 54-year-old Chinese national, illegally entered the U.S. in 2023. While he admitted to Border Patrol agents that he had unlawfully entered the country, the Biden administration released him and provided him with work authorization documents and a Social Security card, the Department of Homeland Security reported.
Huang used his work documents to obtain a Class B CDL in New York, which allowed him to operate a bus.
On December 9, Huang allegedly caused a multi-vehicle crash after he rear-ended a tractor-trailer. Investigators found that Huang was “distracted by a video on his phone.”
The incident resulted in the death of American citizen Kerry Smith and injuries to two other individuals. There were no passengers on Huang’s bus at the time of the crash.
RELATED: Trump’s DOT claims 53% of New York’s non-domiciled CDLs were issued illegally
Sean Duffy. Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images
Huang failed his English proficiency test administered after the fatal collision.
“Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semi-trucks and big rigs. And yet sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses. The Trump administration is ending the chaos,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said. “The brave men and women of ICE are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads.”
RELATED: Illegal alien trucker accused of causing crash that killed newlyweds
Kristi Noem. Photo by ALEX BRANDON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “It’s not just that Joe Biden let millions of migrants flood into our country illegally. His administration doled out the documentation these unqualified foreigner drivers needed to obtain trucking licenses and operate 40-ton missiles on the highway. The fact that this individual failed a basic English test also calls into question how he even got the license in the first place. Working with Secretary Noem, we will continue to fight to keep you and your family safe on America’s roadways.”
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Fly home or get caught: Trump’s TSA feeding ICE names before takeoff to nab illegal aliens ‘without apology’
President Donald Trump’s Transportation Security Administration is partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to ramp up immigration enforcement.
While the two agencies are under the Department of Homeland Security, a New York Times report last week stated that “ICE has historically avoided interfering with domestic travel.”
‘The message to those in the country illegally is clear: The only reason you should be flying is to self-deport home.’
However, beginning in March, the TSA reportedly quietly expanded its data sharing with ICE.
According to the NYT, the TSA has been providing lists of travelers’ names to ICE ahead of their scheduled flights. ICE then cross-checks that information against its own database of those subject to deportation, the outlet wrote. Agents are then dispatched to apprehend those individuals at the airport.
The report noted that it is unclear how many arrests have resulted from this data-sharing effort. It claimed there was at least one such arrest by immigration officials at Boston Logan Airport on November 20. That individual was deported.
RELATED: App allegedly endangers ICE agents — now its creator is suing the Trump administration
“The administration has turned routine travel into a force multiplier for removals, potentially identifying thousands who thought they could evade the law simply by boarding a plane,” Scott Mechkowski, the former deputy head of ICE’s New York office, told the NYT.
“This isn’t about fear; it’s about restoring order and ensuring every American knows their government enforces its laws without apology,” he added.
RELATED: ‘Make travel family friendly again’: Trump admin launches $1B effort to improve airport experience
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A DHS spokesperson told Blaze News that the program was “nothing new,” adding that in February, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country and do so without identification.”
“Under President Trump, TSA and DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport,” DHS added.
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‘Naked judicial activism’: Judge issues restraining order on ICE in Kilmar Abrego Garcia deportation case
The high-profile deportation case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia is once again in the spotlight after an “activist” judge once again temporarily threw a wrench in the Department of Homeland Security’s work.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis issued an order barring immigration enforcement officials from detaining and deporting Garcia.
‘This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.’
Judge Xinis, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, upheld requests from Garcia’s lawyers for a temporary restraining order against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Newsweek reported.
Garcia was freed from immigration detention on Thursday after months of being in limbo, the Associated Press reported.
RELATED: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s days in the US may be numbered after court’s latest ruling
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
“For the public to have any faith in the orderly administration of justice, the Court’s narrowly crafted remedy cannot be so quickly and easily upended without further briefing and consideration,” Xinis wrote.
Garcia’s attorney, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, celebrated the news of the restraining order and his client’s release.
“Yesterday’s order from Judge Xinis and now the temporary restraining order this morning represent a victory of law over power,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who allegedly faced death threats from twin brothers from New Jersey earlier this week, told Newsweek that the decision was “naked judicial activism.”
“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” McLaughlin added.
Garcia, an illegal alien and alleged MS-13 associate living in Maryland, was deported to an infamous Salvadoran prison earlier this year before being returned to the United States for continued processing of his case.
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Are They Illegal? Because If They’re Illegal, That’s Why They’re Getting Arrested
As many of our readers know, the month of December has brought on Operation Swamp Sweep, which is a joint…
