U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained 646 undocumented immigrants in the Houston region as part of a broader campaign to enforce immigration rules and target criminal activities. The operation also captured 543 offenders, including seven gang members. According to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this week-long campaign, which ran from February 23 to March 2, involved the assistance of federal, state, and local law enforcement organizations.
The arrests targeted people who had been prosecuted or convicted of criminal charges while illegally in the United States. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its agents aimed to greatly improve public safety and security. Among those apprehended, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation was able to apprehend many people implicated in significant crimes, including 140 charged with violent crimes such as aggravated assault and domestic violence, 34 with sex offenses, and 52 with narcotics violations.
Chad Plantz, Special Agent in Charge for ICE Homeland Security Investigations in Houston, emphasized the operation’s collaborative character. He continued, “In just one week working alongside our counterparts from federal, state, and local law enforcement, ICE HSI special agents successfully executed 71 criminal arrest warrants and made 554 administrative arrests that included illegally present human smugglers, gang members, human traffickers, child sex offenders, drug traffickers, and weapons traffickers.” He went on to discuss the increased safety for local communities as well as the greater national security ramifications. Plantz’s statements, which emphasized the crackdown on transnational criminal networks, were contained in a press release issued by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Collaboration was vital in this multi-agency operation, which included U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the FBI. Furthermore, the DEA, Texas Department of Public Safety, Diplomatic Security Service, United States Marshals Service, and other agencies assisted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in its efforts to aggressively identify, arrest, and charge those involved in criminal activity. The combined strength of these authorities wanted to send a clear message to deter crime and promote lawful behavior throughout the region.
