ICE Houston removes 25 illegally present child sex offenders from US in past month

HOUSTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office removed 25 unlawfully present noncitizens from the United States in October who were convicted of at least one child sex offense while in the country illegally.

Notable among the noncitizens removed during the month were two documented gang members and a Mexican national who was convicted of a child sex offense and removed from the United States in 2020, only to illegally reenter the country and be convicted in 2021 of committing a second sex offense involving minors.

"The 25 noncitizens that ERO Houston removed last month illegally entered the country and then proceeded to prey on the innocence and vulnerability of our children," said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. "Unconscionably, one of the noncitizens that we removed was convicted of a child sex offense and deported and then he illegally reentered the country and committed a second child sex offense. Our immigration officers live and raise families in this community, and they take their mission to protect the residents of southeast Texas from dangerous criminal noncitizens like this personally. Last month's results are just another example of their unyielding commitment to apprehend and remove threats to public safety to protect our communities from harm and restore integrity to our nation's immigration system."

Among the 25 illegally present child sex offenders removed by ERO Houston in October were:

• A 37-year-old twice-deported Mexican national removed Oct. 16 who is a documented Paisas gang member with prior criminal convictions for committing lewd acts against a child under the age of 14 and illegal re-entry.
• A 50-year-old three-time deported Mexican national removed Oct. 17 with convictions for sexual indecency with a child, cocaine trafficking, DWI (twice), assault, unlawful carrying a weapon, and illegal re-entry.
• A 44-year-old Mexican national removed Oct. 18 who is a documented Colonia Durango gang member with prior criminal convictions for aggravated sexual assault of a minor, sexual indecency with a child, and larceny (twice).
• A 37-year-old twice-deported Mexican national removed Oct. 16 with convictions for sexual indecency with a child and sexual assault of a child.
• A 27-year-old Salvadoran national removed Oct. 2 with convictions for sexual assault of a child, resisting arrest, and providing false information to law enforcement.
• A 58-year-old twice-deported Salvadoran national removed Oct. 2 with convictions for aggravated sexual assault of a child and illegal reentry.
• A 33-year-old twice-deported Ecuadorian national removed Oct. 22 with convictions for unlawful surveillance / installing an imaging device for sexual arousal in a manner to injure a child under the age of 17, and illegal reentry.
• A 20-year-old Guatemalan national removed Oct. 28 with convictions for sexual indecency with a child under the age of 14.
• A 30-year-old twice-deported Guatemalan national removed Oct. 28 with convictions for incest with a minor under the age of 13 and illegal reentry.
• A 52-year-old twice-deported Salvadoran national removed Oct. 23 with convictions for indecent liberties with a child, DWI, assault of a government employee, assault, and illegal reentry.

The ERO Houston Field Office is responsible for conducting immigration enforcement in an area of responsibility that spans 52 counties in east Texas stretching down the Louisiana state line and Texas Gulf Coast from Shelby and Hill Counties in the north to Refugio and Live Oak Counties in the south. In fiscal year 2023, ERO Houston arrested 13,595 illegally present noncitizens including 7,100 noncitizens with criminal convictions and 2,427 noncitizens with pending criminal charges. During that same fiscal year, ERO Houston removed 13,488 illegally present noncitizens including 6,015 noncitizens with criminal convictions and 1,092 noncitizens with pending criminal charges.

For more news and information on how the ERO Houston Field Office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROHouston.

As one of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO's mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency's detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO's workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.