Federal immigration agents on Thursday arrested illegal aliens convicted of a third-degree sex offense, manslaughter, and arson, as the Department of Homeland Security continues to deal with backlash over enforcement operations in Minnesota.
“These thugs have no place in our communities,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, adding, “70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S. This statistic doesn’t even include foreign fugitives, terrorists, and gang members who lack a rap sheet in the U.S.”
Authorities on Thursday arrested two Mexican nationals, Darwin Vazquez-Ramos, who has been convicted of a third-degree sex offense, and Israel Sanchez-Jimenez, who has been convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in Los Angeles, according to DHS.
Authorities also arrested Colombian Yonatan Galvez-Marin, who has been convicted of manslaughter in New York City; Phong Nguyen, who is from Vietnam and has been convicted of arson in Texas; and Mohammed Amin Zakariah, a Ghana native who has been convicted of identity theft in North Carolina.
“With every arrest, we are making America safe again,” McLaughlin said.
The arrests come as the department faces backlash after a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, 37, on Jan. 24, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, on Jan. 7 amid anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis.
ICE is “doing its work around the country, and we’re not getting news around the country,” Lora Ries, director of the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.
“We have to get the cause and effect right here,” Ries continued. “ICE is not the cause; the Radical Left, these rioters, and their funders and organizers are the cause of what’s coming out of Minnesota.”
Investigations have uncovered multiple agitator organizations operating in Minneapolis.
Comunidades Organizando el Poder y la Acción Latina, for example, is a “major player” in organizing anti-ICE protests, according to The Daily Signal’s Tyler O’Neil. The New York Times reports that the group is “on the front lines of anti-ICE operations.”
Despite opposition and protests, ICE operations are continuing in Minneapolis under the leadership of border czar Tom Homan.
Homan, at President Donald Trump’s request, is taking over for Customs and Border Protection commander Greg Bovino, following the two fatal shootings by immigration enforcement agents. Homan is reporting directly to Trump, according to the president.
“I didn’t come to Minnesota for photo ops or headlines,” Homan said. “I came here to seek solutions, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Homan has met with multiple state and local leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey, since arriving in Minneapolis and says there will be a reduction of federal immigration officers in the Twin Cities if local authors agree to “commonsense cooperation” with ICE.
