U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Houston Field Office arrested 3,593 criminal illegal aliens across Southeast Texas during the recent federal government shutdown, which spanned from October 1 to November 12.
Despite operating without pay during the longest shutdown in history, ICE agents apprehended individuals with extensive criminal records, underscoring the agency’s focus on public safety and national security.
The arrests included a highly dangerous contingent of violent offenders:
- 13 individuals convicted of murder
- 51 child predators
- 67 sex offenders
- 23 gang members, including an MS-13 member charged with a triple homicide
- 366 criminal aliens convicted of DWI offenses
- 261 convicted of aggravated assault
Other serious charges and convictions represented among the arrested individuals include aggravated kidnapping, human trafficking, terroristic threats, weapons offenses, and numerous drug-related crimes. ICE also apprehended 10 illegal aliens with outstanding criminal arrest warrants for serious crimes.
“Our entire team understands how critical ICE’s mission is to public safety and national security, and despite many of them going without pay, they continued to show up every day and give everything they had to protect this community from dangerous criminal illegal alien gang members, child predators, murderers and rapists,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford.
He highlighted the direct impact of their work, stating, “As a result of those efforts, 51 dangerous child predators are no longer free to prey on our children, 10 fugitives have been apprehended and will now face justice for their alleged offenses, and thousands of other violent criminal aliens have been removed from local communities throughout Southeast Texas and will be removed from the United States.”
The arrests list included several high-profile and repeat offenders with extensive criminal histories, some of whom had recently been released into the U.S. or previously encountered by immigration officials without removal:
- Brayan Josue Pineda-Ayala, a 23-year-old MS-13 gang member from Honduras, arrested on Oct. 7. Pineda-Ayala was reportedly released into the U.S. in May 2024 and subsequently allegedly committed a triple homicide in Dallas County.
- Froilan Mejia Olveram, a 44-year-old twice-removed convicted rapist from Mexico, arrested on Oct. 23. Mejia was encountered in September 2023, but ICE officers were unable to take custody or remove him under then-current enforcement guidelines. He was later convicted of sexual assault and aggravated assault in August 2024 for an offense committed a month after that encounter.
- Baldomero Perez-Quezada, a 56-year-old four-time removed convicted child predator, arrested on Oct. 17. Perez-Quezada remained in the U.S. following an October 2023 encounter with officials, later leading to a conviction for sexual indecency with a child in January 2025.
- Octavio Cruz-Garcia, a five-time removed 48-year-old from Mexico, arrested on Oct. 8 on an outstanding warrant for homicide in Harris County, Texas.
Other arrests included individuals with multiple deportations and convictions for crimes like attempted sexual assault of a minor, aggravated assault with a weapon, drug trafficking, and aggravated kidnapping.
READ: Immigration Enforcement Expands Across US States
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