HOUSTON — Federal Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested 45 illegal aliens in the Houston area for violating U.S. immigration laws during a five-day enforcement action, which ended Friday.

The local enforcement operation targeted at-large criminal aliens, many of whom had absconded from prior immigration proceedings.

Of the individuals arrested during the operation, 15 had previously been removed (deported) and 42 had prior criminal convictions. Several had felony convictions for serious or violent criminal offenses, such as rape, child exploitation, robbery, drug trafficking and assault.

“Our primary focus with conducting targeted immigration enforcement operations is to improve public safety by removing criminal aliens from our local communities,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Pat Contreras. “The dedicated immigration enforcement officers who conducted the operation did just that by taking 42 dangerous criminal aliens off the streets.”

ERO deportation officers made arrests throughout the Houston area including the following Texas cities: Houston (26), Conroe (9), Cleveland (2), Alvin (1), Tomball (1), the Woodlands (1), Texas City (1), Channelview (1), Clearlake (1), Baytown (1) and Bellville (1). Individuals arrested during the operation included nationals from Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Argentina, Cuba, Nigeria, India, Chile and Turkey.

Some of those arrests included the following:

– In Houston, a 29-year-old Turkish national convicted of child exploitation;

– In Houston, a previously removed 43-year-old Honduran national convicted of rape;

– In Houston, a 44-year-old Cuban national convicted of burglary; and

– In Tomball, a twice-removed 46-year-old Mexican national convicted of burglary and drug trafficking.

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