DOJ to target birth tourism schemes in the US, Trump says
The Justice Department and FBI have announced the arrests of eight alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, accusing them in connection with kidnappings and murders in Texas and Illinois. Former acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey weighs in on open-border policies, the Biden administration’s immigration record and emerging efforts to address birth tourism. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is urging Congress to revisit birthright citizenship laws, while Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is warning about the potential financial fallout of ending Temporary Protected Status.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday that its Harlingen, Texas, field office, working alongside partner law enforcement agencies, arrested 238 illegal immigrants during a one-day operation that officials described as a record-setting enforcement action in the Rio Grande Valley.
According to ICE, the operation produced the largest number of targeted arrests in a single day for Enforcement and Removal Operations Harlingen, underscoring the agency’s intensified immigration enforcement efforts in South Texas.
The arrests were carried out by ERO Harlingen as part of a targeted public safety operation.
The June 18 sweep included illegal immigrants with prior convictions for offenses such as attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and drug possession, the agency said.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 238 illegal immigrants during a one-day enforcement operation in South Texas, according to the agency. (Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The ICE mission continues to focus on enhancing public safety and restoring integrity to our nation’s immigration system,” ICE Harlingen Field Office Director Juan Agudelo said in a statement.
“We will stop at nothing to keep our American communities safe by removing one criminal illegal alien at a time,” he added.
The arrests come as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration and seeks to remove criminal illegal immigrants from communities across the country.
Manuel Morales-Geronimo, whom ICE identified as a Paisas gang member, was among 238 illegal immigrants arrested during a one-day enforcement operation in South Texas, according to the agency. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Among those arrested was Manuel Morales-Geronimo, a Mexican national whom authorities identified as a Paisas gang member.
Morales-Geronimo was previously convicted of assault causing bodily injury, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated, illegal entry into the United States and three counts of illegal reentry, according to ICE.
Jose Alfredo Castillo-Mendoza, also a Mexican national, was arrested during the operation. According to ICE, he was previously convicted of attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and illegal reentry.
Jose Alfredo Castillo-Mendoza was arrested during a one-day ICE enforcement operation in South Texas after previously being convicted of attempted kidnapping, sexual battery and illegal reentry, according to the agency. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
The announcement came the same day President Donald Trump pushed back on a reported DHS move to pause most ICE traffic stops, calling them “one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.”
The reported pause followed scrutiny over recent fatal encounters involving immigration enforcement traffic stops.
In a social media post, Trump wrote, “We CANNOT give up one of ICE’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!”
The president added that the DHS policy shift would be “playing right into the criminal’s [sic] hands.”
