U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents announced the arrest of a criminal illegal and member of the notorious transnational MS-13 gang, whom NY officials allowed to rack up a laundry list of convictions for assault and other crimes.
Rene Sanchez, described by ICE as a criminal illegal alien and member of the transnational MS-13 gang, was taken into custody May 15 in connection with immigration violations, the agency announced. He remains detained pending removal proceedings.
Rene Sanchez, a criminal illegal alien and MS-13 transnational terrorist organization member from Mexico has multiple convictions including:
🚨Assault
🚨Prison contraband smuggling
🚨Property damage
🚨Crimes against a personHe’s also been arrested multiple other times, and ICE… pic.twitter.com/D9iE3uMyzN
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) May 25, 2026
Sanchez has multiple convictions, including assault in Riverhead, New York, as well as prison contraband smuggling, property damage and crimes against a person, according to ICE. He had been arrested additional times, the agency said. ICE removed him from the United States in 2023, but he re-entered the country illegally.
The arrest was highlighted in a May 18 Department of Homeland Security news release detailing weekend enforcement actions against criminal immigrants. Sanchez was one of several individuals listed, alongside others convicted of serious sex offenses, assaults and drug crimes.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, ICE law enforcement never takes a day off, even during the weekends,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in the release. “This weekend, ICE arrested multiple child rapists, violent assailants, and drug traffickers. Nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of crimes in the U.S. We are getting criminal illegal aliens off our streets and out of our country.”
The operation was part of the Trump administration’s broader push to prioritize the removal of individuals with criminal histories. DHS has also ramped up public communications on such cases through social media and “Worst of the Worst” listings to underscore enforcement priorities amid counter narratives pushed by activist groups and pro-immigration NGOs.
MS-13, a violent gang originating in El Salvador with roots in Los Angeles, has been a repeated target of federal immigration enforcement. Officials have long linked the group to drug trafficking, extortion and brutal violence across the U.S. and Central America.
Immigration advocates often criticize such announcements as selective messaging that inflames debate, while supporters argue they demonstrate necessary accountability for repeat offenders who undermine legal immigration. ICE data shows thousands of criminal noncitizens being arrested and deported monthly.
While exact recidivism figures for previously deported individuals vary by case, studies indicate that up to 75 percent of repeat offenders have also repeatedly re-entered the United States illegally—showing “no respect for our laws and our borders,” authorities said.
Sanchez’s case illustrates challenges in maintaining interior security and border enforcement amid transnational terror threats and sanctuary policies.
