U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested multiple individuals Wednesday who were convicted of serious crimes, including sexual assault and drug trafficking, as part of enforcement actions during National Crime Victims Week, officials said. The Department of Homeland Security said the arrests targeted individuals with prior convictions for offenses such as aggravated sexual assault, lewd acts with a child, assault by strangulation and distribution of methamphetamine.
The enforcement actions come as immigration policy continues to generate debate over how to balance public safety priorities with the rights and treatment of immigrant communities. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement, "During National Crime Victims Week, DHS is continuing its work to fight for justice for victims of illegal alien crime." Bis added, "By removing criminal illegal aliens from our communities, ICE is stopping them before they can perpetrate more crimes and create more victims."
Details of the Arrests
Officials highlighted several of the arrests from this week. One man, Carlos Portillo-Nunez of El Salvador, was previously convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child in Indio, California, according to DHS. Pablo Blanco-Fortuna, an illegal alien from Mexico, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault and failing to register as a sex offender in Hidalgo, Texas, and Roberto Vallejo-Benitez, also from Mexico, was convicted of assault by strangulation in Wake County, North Carolina, officials said.
Guatemalan national Eladio Laines was previously convicted of sexual assault and unlawful restraint involving serious bodily injury in Chester, Pennsylvania, and Alfredo Delgado-Perez, another Mexican national, was convicted of distributing methamphetamine in Los Angeles. The individuals arrested are from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, countries that have consistently accounted for a significant share of illegal border crossings in recent years, according to DHS encounter data.
Context of Border Encounters
The arrests come after the U.S. experienced historically high levels of illegal immigration in recent years. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 2 million migrant encounters along the southern border in both fiscal years 2022 and 2023, according to DHS data, before declining in 2024. While DHS highlights arrests involving serious criminal offenses, such cases represent a small portion of the millions of illegal alien encounters recorded nationwide in recent years, based on CBP data.
ICE has said it prioritizes the arrest and removal of illegal aliens with prior criminal convictions, particularly those involving violence, sexual offenses and drug trafficking. The federal agency said the arrests were part of its broader efforts to remove individuals with criminal convictions from U.S. communities. It also pointed victims to its Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office for support services.
Bis said, "Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will never stop fighting for justice for the innocent Americans whose lives were stolen by illegal aliens who should have never been in our country."
Why This Matters:
While enforcement targeting individuals convicted of serious violent crimes addresses legitimate public safety concerns, the broader context reveals that such cases represent only a small fraction of overall immigrant encounters. The vast majority of migrants seeking entry to the United States are fleeing violence, persecution, or economic hardship in their home countries. Effective immigration policy requires balancing public safety with humane treatment, due process protections, and comprehensive reform that addresses root causes of migration. Support services for crime victims, regardless of immigration status, remain essential to ensuring justice and accountability. How enforcement resources are allocated and how communities are protected while respecting human rights will continue to shape the national conversation on immigration reform.