As 2025 comes to a close, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is touting the success of its immigration enforcement efforts and maintains the large majority of arrests are criminal illegal aliens.
Roughly seven in 10 illegal immigrant arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are convicted criminals or individuals who have pending charges for criminal offenses, according to new DHS data.
ICE, the federal agency tasked with interior immigration enforcement and deportations, continues to focus on arresting and removing “the worst of the worst” from American cities.
This week’s arrests included illegal aliens convicted of raping a child under 12 years old, domestic violence assault, drug trafficking and alien smuggling.
“In President Trump’s first year in office, ICE law enforcement relentlessly targeted the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens across our country,” DHS said in a news release. “Our New Year’s resolution for 2026: more worst of the worst arrests. We are thankful to all our officers who put their lives on the line day-in and day-out to deliver safer neighborhoods for American families.”
DHS also continues to offer incentives to illegal immigrants to leave on their own, increasing the stipend to $3,000 and a free flight home for those who self-deport via the CBP Home app by Dec. 31.
The Washington Examiner reported the Trump administration arrested 595,000 illegal immigrants between Jan. 20 and Dec. 11, according to DHS.
Of those arrests, ICE revealed that 70%, or about 416,000, have “criminal convictions or pending criminal charges just in the U.S.,” an agency spokesperson said in statement.
The agency noted that some illegal immigrants arrested may not have criminal records in the United States, but they may still pose public safety concerns.
“This statistic doesn’t account for those wanted for violent crimes in their home country or another country, INTERPOL notices, human rights abusers, gang members, terrorist, etc.,” the ICE spokesperson said. “The list goes on.”
ICE and Border Patrol conducted several larger operations in sanctuary cities such as Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., Los Angeles, New Orleans and Minneapolis this year, and they aren’t going away in 2026.
“If you think we’re done with Chicago, you’d better check yourself before you wreck yourself,” Border Patrol’s Commander at Large Gregory Bovino, who has been on the ground in Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, shared on his X account. “Don’t call it a comeback; we’re gonna be here for years.”
If you think we’re done with Chicago, you’d better check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Don’t call it a comeback; we’re gonna be here for years.#DHS #CBP #USBP #BorderPatrol #OpMidwayBlitz #Chicago pic.twitter.com/eDxM4OxLyV
— Commander Op At Large CA Gregory K. Bovino (@CMDROpAtLargeCA) December 30, 2025
Federal agents also continue to make arrests in the interior, with several notable apprehensions this week in Kentucky, Georgia, Nevada and Texas.
DHS said Artemio Gabriel-Perez, a Guatemalan national, was convicted of rape in the second degree involving a victim under 12 years old in Scott County, Kentucky.
Julian Ramos-Vicente, another Guatemalan, was convicted of aggravated assault in Floyd, Georgia.
Panfilo Padilla-Garcia, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, has a conviction for domestic violence assault in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Muhammad Baloch, a criminal illegal alien from Pakistan, was convicted of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance in Collin County, Texas.
And Mexican national Gabino Huerta-Navarrete was convicted of alien smuggling in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas.
In another recent news release, DHS revealed names and mugshots of illegal aliens convicted of homicide, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14-years-old, sexual assault of a child, drug charges with intent to sell, among other crimes.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens have NO PLACE in our country,” DHS posted on social media. “Americans can be proud of DHS law enforcement who worked around the clock this year to remove the worst of the worst from American neighborhoods.”
ICE also continues to update arrests on its X account for Operation Buckeye and elsewhere. The agency highlighted the arrest of Ryan Paul Salazar, a 44-year-old criminal illegal alien from the Philippines, who has been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, identity theft and possession of a controlled substance in Monterey, Calif.
OPERATION BUCKEYE:
ICE arrested Surinder Singh, a criminal illegal alien from India.
His criminal history includes an attempted kidnapping conviction and previous rape charges. pic.twitter.com/CqONOElh5m
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) December 31, 2025
Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks told the Washington Examiner that Border Patrol will continue to focus on preventing and deterring illegal activity and entry along the border. But agents have also supported immigration enforcement in the interior, going deep inside the country.
Agents are normally stationed along the border to stop the illegal smuggling of people, goods and drugs attempting to enter unchecked between ports of entry.
“When it makes it in, we want to be able to effectively apprehend it as close to that border as possible because the further away you get from that border the greater risk it has on the communities that surround that border,” Banks told the Examiner. “Our job is to stop it from even entering, and if it does enter, to interdict it as close to that border as absolutely possible.”
On Tuesday, Banks shared an incident involving human smuggling on his social media. An alleged human smuggler transporting eight illegal aliens collided with a Border Patrol unit while fleeing local police west of Lordsburg, New Mexico.
“The U.S. citizen smuggler is being prosecuted, and the smuggled illegal aliens are being processed for deportation,” Banks wrote on X. “Smugglers continue to put lives at risk for profit. Don’t cross illegally and risk becoming their next victim.”
A careless human smuggler transporting eight illegal aliens collided with a Border Patrol unit while fleeing local police west of Lordsburg, NM. The U.S. citizen smuggler is being prosecuted, and the smuggled illegal aliens are being processed for deportation.
Smugglers continue… pic.twitter.com/yEW6ELE4Uh
— Chief Michael W. Banks (@USBPChief) December 30, 2025
The “whole of government approach” and interagency cooperation between DHS, Border Patrol, ICE, FBI, HSI, ATF and other federal agencies will continue in President Donald Trump’s second year in office, Banks said.
Border Patrol has been involved in targeted immigration operations from the West Coast to the East Coast and moved into the Midwest and southern states over the past six months.
“We are the United States Border Patrol, who will go anywhere in the United States of America, apprehend illegal aliens, prosecute them, and return them to their country or to a country that are amenable to be returned to,” Banks told the Examiner. “Gone are the days where, if you got past the U.S. Border Patrol, you were free to go, you were free to live out your life and not have to worry about deportation.”
