Two illegal immigrants were apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they reportedly assaulted a female Border Patrol agent during an escape attempt. 

The individuals, Juan Carmen Pardon Mendez, 29, and Juan Carlos Padron Barron, 23, both hailing from Mexico, have been “apprehended again and will face criminal prosecution to the maximum extent permitted by law,” said ICE’s Houston office. 

According to ICE, both men “escaped from custody on September 22 in Conroe, Texas, after one of them managed to free himself from restraints and assaulted a female Border Patrol agent who was transporting them to the Montgomery Processing Center.” 

“It is alarming that yet another law enforcement officer has been unnecessarily harmed due to the ongoing vilification of legitimate law enforcement tasks by political figures and some media segments,” stated Gabriel Martinez, acting Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, in a statement. 

ICE made 422 arrests earlier this year in an operation in Houston spanning just one week. (Fox News)

The men were initially captured “during a multi-agency enforcement operation led by ICE that targeted violent criminal aliens and significant immigration offenders in the vicinity of Spring, Texas,” the agency said. 

“Padron Barron unlawfully entered the U.S. at least three times and was deported on December 13, 2022, and January 1, 2023,” ICE added. “This marks the first encounter U.S. immigration officials have had with Padron Mendez.” 

Federal law enforcement officers take a suspect into custody in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 28, 2026. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))

ICE added that the operations that resulted in the initial arrests of both men “are part of the current administration’s focus on restoring public safety by targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ illegal aliens and have resulted in historic numbers of transnational gang members and dangerous child predators being removed from local communities throughout Southeast Texas.”