The Texas arrests in Harris County and Lewisville were part of a nationwide weekend operation in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it took 15 convicted criminals into custody
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said two of the people arrested in a nationwide weekend operation were convicted child sex offenders living in Texas, part of a broader sweep the agency announced this week.
According to ICE, officers across the country arrested 15 individuals over the weekend who had prior convictions for crimes including sexual assault of children, domestic violence, and drug trafficking. The agency said two of those arrests took place in Texas.
In the first Texas case, ICE identified the person arrested as Miguel Gorasieta Jaimes, a Mexican national the agency said was previously convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child in Harris County. In the second, ICE named Santos Ruben Gutierrez, an El Salvadoran national the agency said was convicted of indecency with a child in Lewisville.
ICE said both men were in the country illegally at the time of their arrests.
“While Americans enjoyed UFC Freedom 250 in our nation’s capital, the men and women of ICE law enforcement were hard at work arresting pedophiles, drug traffickers, and other violent criminals,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis in the agency’s statement. Bis said ICE would continue to target what the agency described as the “worst of the worst” and protect American communities.
Part of a Nationwide Operation
The Texas arrests were among 15 the agency reported nationwide. ICE said the others spanned at least nine states, including California, Illinois, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, New Jersey, Nebraska, Massachusetts, and South Dakota, with prior convictions ranging from sexual offenses against children to cocaine trafficking.
The agency said the operation was carried out under the direction of President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin as part of its stated effort to remove individuals with criminal convictions from U.S. communities.
ICE said additional information about its enforcement actions is posted on its public webpage at wow.dhs.gov.
