U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Southeast Texas arrested 214 illegal aliens charged with or convicted of child sex offenses in the past six months — surpassing the field office’s total for all of fiscal year 2024.
The arrests, carried out by officers with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston, represent a sharp increase in apprehensions of violent criminal aliens. According to ICE, the recent success is due in part to a coordinated, multiagency strategy launched under the current administration to prioritize the removal of the most dangerous offenders.
“Bringing together the resources and expertise of the entire federal law enforcement community to confront the overwhelming surge of illegal immigration that we saw over the past four years has resulted in the arrest and removal of historic numbers of violent criminal aliens, transnational gang members, and child sex offenders,” said acting Field Office Director Paul McBride.
“While we still have a long way to go to truly get this crisis under control,” McBride continued, “the strides we have made in just six months to make our local communities safer are substantial.”
Among those arrested in recent months:
- Jesus Gutierrez Mireles, 67, a three-time deported criminal alien from Mexico, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and DWI. Arrested March 28, he was deported April 4.
- Jorge Zebra, 48, of Mexico, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor and sexual indecency with a minor. He was arrested March 21 and deported March 24.
- Manuel Antonio Castro-Juarez, 37, a twice-deported criminal alien from El Salvador, was convicted of sexual assault of a minor and has two prior convictions for illegal reentry. Arrested July 18, he remains in ICE custody.
- Jose Guadalupe Meza, 40, a four-time deported Mexican national, was convicted of theft and sexual assault of a child. He was arrested June 24 and deported the next day.
- Sergio Rolando Galvan Guerrero, 45, a three-time deported Mexican national, was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and DWI. Arrested July 12, he was removed July 14.
The enforcement efforts were supported by a coalition of federal, state, and local agencies, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Diplomatic Security Service and the U.S. Marshals Service.
ICE’s Houston field office oversees immigration enforcement across 57 counties in Southeast Texas, including Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Corpus Christi and Waco.
