Manuel Ivan Castillo Estrada/Mexico/Alien Smuggling, Sexual Assault of a Minor

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 36-year-old Mexican national Manuel Ivan Castillo Estrada on August 22 during a targeted operation in southeast Texas focused on criminal non-citizens with serious records and prior removals. Authorities identified Castillo Estrada as a three-time deported criminal alien and child predator who had unlawfully reentered the United States after previous removals.​

Public reports state that Castillo Estrada was convicted of alien smuggling in November 2011, marking his early involvement in federal immigration-related crime. More recently, he was convicted in February 2024 of sexually assaulting a minor, a felony offense that elevated him to a top-priority target for arrest and removal.​

His case was highlighted by officials as an example of repeat illegal reentry combined with serious child sex and smuggling offenses, underscoring the operation’s focus on the “worst of the worst” among criminal aliens in the Houston area.