DHS touts ICE arrests as a 'Christmas gift' to Americans amid border-security push
DHS says ICE rounded up several illegal immigrants with prior criminal convictions, while the administration touts a crackdown and claims of a record-border security status.
The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested a group of illegal immigrants with criminal records across the country in what it described as a 'Christmas gift to Americans.' DHS announced that the arrests, conducted on Thursday, included individuals convicted of burglary, robbery and aggravated kidnapping. Officials characterized the defendants as among the 'worst of the worst' and said the operations are part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, 'Violent criminal illegal aliens who break our laws have absolutely no business remaining in the United States.' The arrests spanned several countries, with detainees from Chile, Colombia, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras, all of whom had documented past convictions.
Among those named by DHS was Jessupe Sandino Berraza-Rivera, a Chilean national described as a member of a transnational crime enterprise known as the South American Theft Group; he was convicted of burglary in Santa Ana, California. Also cited was Luis Enrique Castaneda-Reyes, a Colombian national with 10 criminal convictions, including bank robbery by force and violent crimes involving drugs and a machine gun in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. Elidelfo Castro-Nava, a Mexican national, was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Salt Lake City, Utah. Juan Emerson Gomez-Sorto, from El Salvador, was convicted of aggravated assault in Price, Utah. Jesser Sandoval-Cruz, a Honduran national, was convicted of assault of a family/household member after a previous conviction in Harris County, Texas.
DHS said Friday that the arrests come as part of a broader effort under the current administration to strengthen border security. The agency said more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants have left the United States since President Trump returned to office in January 2025, a figure it says underpins its claim of the 'most secure border in American history.' Secretary Kristi Noem, in a statement, credited the administration with securing the border, taking the fight to cartels and arresting thousands of violent offenders. 'In less than a year, President Trump has delivered some of the most historic and consequential achievements in presidential history, and this administration is just getting started,' Noem said. 'Under President Trump’s leadership, we are making America safe again and putting the American people first.' Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
The results, as presented by DHS and echoed in related coverage, reflect ongoing messaging from the Trump administration about a crackdown on illegal immigration. The releases also illustrate the federal government’s use of targeted enforcement against individuals with prior violent-criminal histories who were found in the country illegally. The department did not provide a country-by-country tally beyond noting the nationalities involved and the crimes convicted in each case.
The administration’s stated frame emphasizes border security advances achieved in a short period since President Trump’s return to office. The figure of 2.5 million departures is cited as evidence of a sweeping crackdown, and DHS officials have repeatedly tied those reductions to policy changes, enforcement actions and cooperation with law enforcement partners. Critics, however, argue that arrests of individuals with prior criminal records do not by themselves measure overall border effectiveness or address root causes of migration. The DHS release also noted the operational tempo of arrests and highlighted the role of frontline officers in identifying and processing suspects with criminal histories.
The federal enforcement push comes as the broader political debate over immigration policy intensifies ahead of upcoming political cycles. DHS officials stressed that the focus remains on public safety, arguing that removing violent offenders from the country reduces crime and enhances community security. The agency did not indicate how many total arrests were conducted in the campaign discussed Friday, but it emphasized the types of crimes involved—burglary, bank robbery, kidnapping, and aggravated assault—to illustrate the severity of the cases.
In distributing the information, DHS and affiliated outlets framed the operation as indicative of steady progress toward a more secure border under the Trump administration. The reporting from Fox News Digital, which included attribution to contributor Michael Sinkewicz, also noted the administration’s broader rhetoric about border control and crime. The post-release coverage did not present independent crime-rate data or compare findings with prior years, focusing instead on the specific cases named by DHS.
The balance of the story reflects a broader policy dispute: supporters of strict enforcement point to arrests of violent offenders and rising enforcement metrics as proof that the border is being controlled more effectively than in recent years. Critics argue that arrests of individuals with criminal records, while important for public safety, do not resolve the underlying pressures driving migration, such as violence, poverty, and instability in migrants’ home countries. The conversation about border security and immigration policy remains ongoing, with officials on all sides citing data and case-by-case outcomes to support their positions.