Repeat Offenders Busted: ICE Houstons Crackdown Nails 350+ Violent Criminals and Gang Members

“When the law won’t stop them at the border, ICE brings the hammer down in our neighborhoods.” That’s what one Houston local told RedPledgeInfo as news broke of an unprecedented roundup of violent repeat offenders by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Under President Trump’s rock-solid commitment to public safety, ICE’s Houston field office has shattered records-arresting over 350 illegal alien gang members, violent felons, and serial border-hoppers in just six months, restoring a sense of safety and justice to Texas communities that were left vulnerable by weak Democrat policies.

Inside Houston’s Most Aggressive Crime Cleanup: ICE Zeroes in on Notorious Gang Threats

In a stunning show of force, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit went after Houston’s worst of the worst, not just snatching up random illegal immigrants but specifically targeting dangerous repeat offenders and confirmed members of brutal gangs like MS-13, the Paisas, and the increasingly deadly Tren de Aragua-now officially labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Secretary of State!

The numbers are jaw-dropping: In just the last week, ICE rounded up nearly 50 illegal aliens in Operation Lone Star-Justice, many with criminal wrap sheets a mile long. But that’s just scratching the surface. Shockingly, the first six months of 2025 saw a relentless blitz by ICE, with over 350 gang members brought in from the Houston area alone, including 159 Paisas, 39 MS-13 mutants, and 25 hardened criminals from Tren de Aragua.

What’s fueling these numbers? Years of reckless border neglect left Texas ripe for exploitation by the world’s most ruthless gangs. According to ICE, the felons nabbed in the sweep had a bone-chilling 1,434 combined illegal entries into the U.S.-with one gang-banger crossing 40 times-and a collective rap sheet littered with 1,685 convictions: murderers, child predators, arsonists, thieves, and more.

“Despite attempts to undermine ICE’s work, my officers risk their lives daily to keep these monsters from stalking our streets. We’re here to prevent heinous crimes-like the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl by a previously deported alien-ever happening again,” said Acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez.

This powerful operation included the takedown of infamous suspects like:

• Milton Alexander Magana Fuentes: Paisas gang leader and convicted child predator, with four illegal entries and convictions for sexual indecency with a child.
• Oscar Moran Valle: Mexican national, Paisas gang enforcer, illegally entered 12 times, with 11 convictions, including drug possession.
• Jesus Alberto Escalona-Mujicas: A 47-year-old Venezuelan Tren de Aragua member, recently arrested in Bryan, Texas, accused of organizing gang activity in Texas.

And that’s just a sample: Other arrestees included career criminals who had racked up convictions for assaulting law enforcement, domestic violence, forgery, and aggravated assault-crimes that devastate real families, not abstract statistics.

A Flood of Criminals, an Avalanche of Crimes: The Shocking Scale of Illegal Alien Gang Violence in Houston

What’s truly terrifying is just how deep the rot runs. The criminal aliens captured weren’t just unlucky border jumpers hoping for a better life. These were the most dangerous, cunning, and repeat offenders-some literally cycling in and out of the U.S. dozens of times despite multiple deportations and convictions.

ICE documented more than 1,434 illegal border entries by this one group, a sum so outrageous it exposes the catastrophic failures of previous “catch-and-release” policies. Consider this: with children victimized and whole neighborhoods terrorized, criminal aliens with prior convictions are routinely setting up shop in the very heart of Texas. Gang members from Central America, South America, and Mexico have burrowed into established criminal networks in Houston, preying on U.S. citizens and legal immigrants alike.

One Houston mother, speaking to RedPledgeInfo under the condition of anonymity, said, “I lived in fear for my children. We never knew who was lurking around the corner. ICE has given us hope again.”

This year, ICE’s focus included the full menu of criminal gangs: not only the notorious Paisas and MS-13, but the Latin Kings, Surenos, and fast-rising South American mobs like Tren de Aragua. The latter-once dismissed as a distant foreign threat-was officially branded a terrorist organization by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in September 2024, with the Lone Star State launching a full-scale effort to root out their operations.

With ICE, Border Patrol, and local police working in tandem, large-scale sweeps have nabbed gangsters with criminal backgrounds as dark as you can imagine-murder, home invasion, armed robbery, sex crimes, drug trafficking, and more. One recent operation alone netted 543 criminal aliens and seven documented gang members in just a matter of days, many with open homicide or aggravated assault cases. Houston truly was under siege, and Washington’s inaction only emboldened these transnational parasites until ICE, under President Trump, put their foot down.

Red Lines Crossed: From Sanctuary Cities to Terrorist Gangs-ICE Steps Up, But Will Washington?

This crackdown isn’t just about numbers or media headlines-it’s about the soul of America’s immigration enforcement and a direct rebuke to years of reckless border policies. For too long, activist judges and radical “sanctuary city” mayors let criminals exploit loopholes, all while decent Texans bore the cost in blood, fear, and stolen dreams.

Radical gangs like Tren de Aragua have now drawn direct sanctions from the U.S. Treasury for drug trafficking and financial crimes, with ringleaders like Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano now facing international manhunts. These are not misunderstood migrants-they are organized criminals, foreign terrorists, and drug kingpins exploiting open borders for profit.

Citing national security, the State Department formally labeled Tren de Aragua and its ilk as terrorists, giving American law enforcement far broader tools to hunt them down and cut their funding, disrupt their trafficking, and put their leadership behind bars.

Meanwhile, ICE’s hero officers-still regularly demonized by the far-left and the anti-borders lobby-continue their dangerous, thankless work. Recent operations have featured officers risking their lives against the “worst of the worst,” sometimes with backup from the FBI and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Only with Trump’s renewed funding, substantial recruitment drives, and the iron-clad will of law-abiding Texans have these streets begun to feel safe again.

But make no mistake: This is only the beginning. With another election season on the horizon, expect Democrats to call for slashing ICE’s budget, ending deportations, and reopening the border floodgates. Houston’s story proves what’s at stake: If we want to keep criminals who should never have been here out of our neighborhoods, Americans must stand up, speak out, and keep tough-on-crime leadership in charge.