ICE Raids Capture 95 People In Houston Region

HOUSTON, TX — Candidate Donald Trump promised, if elected, that he would "get serious" about rounding up individuals residing in the United States who lacked the proper documentation, especially those with prior convictions, and raids that took place last week in the Houston area demonstrated his intent to follow though on his promises.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said on Monday that 95 immigrants in the U.S. illegally were arrested in what was the first targeted operation carried out by the Trump administration in the Houston area.

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"The importance is to secure our communities," Bret Bradford, acting field office director for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Houston, said, as reported by the Houston Chronicle. "There's bipartisan support for getting these folks off the street."

The Houston-area ICE raids, which began on April 17 and were carried out over five days, took place in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, and Wharton counties.

According to officials, 82 of the 95 individuals arrested had criminal histories, including conviction for child abuse, burglary, cocaine and weapon possession, and re-entering the country after having been deported, which is a felony under U.S. law.

Agency officials provided brief backgrounds of only five of the people arrested, including a 25-year-old Mexican citizen who was convicted of indecent exposure and a 55-year-old from El Salvador with a manslaughter conviction who had been deported 30 years ago.

In February, the most recent ICE raid in Texas previous to the Houston-area activity, 51 people in the Austin region were arrested and detained. According to officials, most of them had engaged in no criminal activity other than being in the U.S. without documentation.

— Image: Wikimedia Commons/ Courtesy of ICE