ICE and the Department of Homeland Security announced a roundup of what officials called the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants, naming five convicted offenders from Vietnam, Honduras, Cuba and Mexico and detailing charges ranging from murder to child sexual abuse and drug trafficking. The report and agency statements put the focus squarely on violent criminals who, officials say, slip through sanctuary policies and fractured enforcement. This account lists the convicted individuals, cites direct DHS quotes, and lays out the enforcement angle from a clear law-and-order perspective.
The agencies released the arrests as evidence of active enforcement despite local policies that shield some detainees from federal actions. “While sanctuary politicians release criminal illegal aliens from their jails to victimize more American families and children, our officers continue to arrest criminals,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. That sentence lands hard for Republicans who have pushed for stricter cooperation between local jails and federal immigration authorities.
ICE and DHS singled out five cases to show the kinds of threats agents encounter, naming suspects and the crimes they were convicted of. Muoi Van Duong, an undocumented immigrant from Vietnam, was convicted of murder with a firearm in San Diego, California. The case is presented as an example of violent crime tied to an individual lacking lawful status.
Officials also named sexual offenses that involve children, emphasizing the gravity of those convictions and the perceived need for tougher immigration enforcement. Roberto Xochimitl-Flores was found guilty of second-degree sexual abuse: sexual contact with a person less than 14 years old in New York City. Lisandro Omar Borjas-Aguirano was convicted of sexual assault of a child in Collin County, Texas, according to DHS.
Another named defendant, Rigoberto Salvia-Ricardo, faces a conviction for sexual battery of a juvenile in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, highlighting the range of local jurisdictions where these cases surface. Ricardo Rosas-Tapia was convicted of possession with intent to sell or distribute cocaine in Wake County, North Carolina, showing the drug-trafficking angle that often accompanies federal immigration interest. These varied locations underline the agencies’ point that criminal illegal immigration is not limited to any single region.
Agence leaders and Republican voices press this list as proof that federal officers must have the tools and authority to detain and remove criminal noncitizens. “Yesterday, ICE arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted for murder, sexual assault of a CHILD, and drug trafficking.” That blunt statement is meant to cut through bureaucracy and make enforcement the clear priority, especially where local policies impede federal work.
McLaughlin added that nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal immigrants charged or convicted of a crime. “This statistic does not even include foreign fugitives, gang members and terrorists who lack a rap sheet in the U.S.” Both the percentage and the quoted warning are used to argue that the visible caseload is only part of the national security and public safety picture.
From a Republican point of view, these arrests underscore two blunt truths: porous enforcement invites danger, and sanctuary policies can put communities at risk. The cases named by DHS are framed as preventable harms that stronger federal-local cooperation and tougher border and interior enforcement could have avoided. Lawmakers pushing a tougher stance will point to these convictions as a call to restore authority to ICE and make sure local officials do not block federal efforts to protect citizens.
