In October, Houston immigration agents removed 25 individuals identified as child predators, including those who had previously been deported and returned to the country.
ICE reported that among those deported were two gang members and a Mexican national who had previously been deported twice, each time following a sex offense involving a minor.
“The 25 noncitizens that ERO Houston removed last month illegally entered the country and then proceeded to prey on the innocence and vulnerability of our children,” said Bret Bradford, director of the Houston branch of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Office (ERO).
They were all “convicted of at least one child sex offense while in the country illegally,” US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
The Houston ERO agency of ICE manages 52 counties in the southwestern region of Texas.
A local deportee, identified as a Mexican national and a member of the Paisas prison gang, has a history of criminal convictions for lewd acts against a child, according to the agency.
A former member of the Colonia Durango gang has been booted, having two previous larceny convictions along with convictions for aggravated sexual assault of a minor and sexual indecency with a child.
A Salvadoran deportee was found guilty of assaulting a government official, alongside his previous sex crime convictions.
A Salvadorian individual has been arrested for placing an imaging device for sexual arousal in a way that could harm a child under 17 years old.
A Mexican national received his third consecutive deportation from the agency. His criminal record featured charges of cocaine trafficking, multiple drunk driving offenses, assault, illegal possession of a weapon, and sexual misconduct involving a minor.
In the 2023 fiscal year, ERO Houston deported nearly 13,500 illegal migrants, with over half having prior or pending criminal convictions, according to the agency’s report.
Unaccompanied child migrants face significant risks as they cross the border in increasing numbers, often becoming targets for predators.
In the 2023 fiscal year, US Customs and Border Protection reported over 130,000 unaccompanied minors, who face significant dangers including pregnancy, sexual and physical assault, and sexually transmitted infections, as highlighted in a study from the American Journal of Public Health.
From October 2022 to April, the Department of Homeland Security found and helped over 2,600 victims of child exploitation and conducted more than 6,100 arrests related to child sex crimes.