ICE arrests 214 illegal immigrants charged with child sex crimes in Houston, surpassing full-year 2024 total
By isabelle // 2025-07-29
Copy
 
  • ICE arrested 214 illegal immigrants in Houston charged with child sex crimes in six months under Trump, surpassing 2024’s total under Biden.
  • Many of the men arrested were repeat deportees from Mexico and El Salvador with violent convictions, exploiting Biden’s lax border policies.
  • Trump’s multi-agency coordination led to the historic arrests of violent criminals, including dangerous child predators and gang members.
  • Houston’s June arrests included 32 child predators, nine murderers, and cartel-linked gang members, prompting a new task force.
  • Local Democratic leaders remain silent on how sanctuary policies and weak enforcement enabled these crimes.
In a sweeping enforcement operation that underscores the catastrophic consequences of open borders, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 214 illegal immigrants in the Houston area during the first six months of the Trump administration, all charged with or convicted of horrific child sex crimes. This staggering figure already surpasses the 211 such arrests made during the entirety of fiscal year 2024, exposing the deadly toll of the Biden-Harris administration’s dereliction of border security. The arrests, which were announced by ICE’s Houston Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), include repeat deportees from Mexico and El Salvador with convictions for aggravated sexual assault of children—predators who never should have been in the country in the first place. ICE officials credit the surge in arrests to restored multi-agency coordination under the Trump administration, targeting what Acting Field Office Director Paul McBride called “the worst of the worst” criminal aliens.

A “whole-of-government” approach targets predators

“Bringing together the resources and expertise of the entire federal law enforcement community to confront the overwhelming surge of illegal immigration that we saw over the past four years has resulted in the arrest and removal of historic numbers of violent criminal aliens, transnational gang members, and child sex offenders,” McBride stated. The operation reflects a reversal from the prevailing attitude during the Biden era, when ICE arrests plummeted as the administration dismantled interior enforcement and allowed millions of illegal immigrants—including violent criminals—to flood across the border. Among those recently arrested:
  • Jesus Gutierrez Mireles, 67, a three-time deportee from Mexico convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child.
  • Jorge Zebra, 48, a Mexican national convicted of multiple counts of child rape.
  • Manuel Antonio Castro-Juarez, 37, a twice-deported Salvadoran with sexual assault and illegal reentry convictions.
“While we still have a long way to go to truly get this crisis under control, the strides we have made in just six months to make our local communities safer are substantial,” McBride added.

Biden’s border betrayal enabled child predators

These predators exploited Biden’s open-border policies to infiltrate American communities, preying on the most vulnerable. ICE reports that many had been previously deported, some of them multiple times, yet they managed to slip back into the U.S. due to lax enforcement. In June alone, Houston ICE officers made 1,361 arrests, including 32 child predators, nine murderers, and cartel-linked gang members. The agency has since launched a Homeland Security Task Force to combat organized crime in Southeast Texas in a direct response to the chaos unleashed by the prior administration. While Houston’s municipal leadership leans Democratic—with Mayor John Whitmire serving 50 years as a Democrat state legislator—local officials have remained silent on how sanctuary policies and failed federal enforcement enabled these criminals. Every one of these 214 arrests represents a child who could have been victimized and countless others who were. While ICE’s renewed vigor under the Trump administration is commendable, these arrests raise urgent questions: How many more predators are lurking in our neighborhoods thanks to Biden’s border catastrophe? And when will lawmakers finally prioritize American safety over political correctness? Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com FoxNews.com Fox26Houston.com
Copy