President Donald Trump‘s vow to end illegal immigration has led to the arrests and deportations of thousands of individuals with violent criminal backgrounds including many who have been repeatedly deported under the Joe Biden administration but illegally returned.
New data from the Department of Homeland Security data showed that 37,660 people were deported during Trump’s first month in office, slightly under average of 57,000 who were removed and returned in Biden’s last full year in office.
One of the most striking deportations to date took place February 13 when ICE agents removed Humberto Romero, a 45-year-old Paisas gang member who has illegally crossed the border 10 times.
Romero, who allegedly murdered Geovany Prado, 22, on December 2, 2007, in Celaya, Guanajuato, was turned over to Mexican authorities.
During his time in the United States, the murder suspect was convicted four times for driving while intoxicated and had convictions for larceny, illegal entry and illegal reentry while in the U.S. illegally, according to the immigration agency.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations [ERO] Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said in a statement that in more than three decades of service, he had not ‘come across a more egregious offender or a better example of why immigration enforcement is so critical to maintaining public safety’.
Nestor Flores, 58, who is wanted in Veracruz, Mexico for allegedly raping a child, made three border crossing attempts during a span of six days in February 2022 and was voluntarily returned to Mexico.
He then returned at an unknown date and he went undetected until August 23, 2024, when Houston ERO’s office placed him under arrest after received a tip that he was residing in the Houston area and was facing a rape charge in Mexico.
Humberto Romero was deported 10 times before he was arrested in August 2024 by ICE agents in Houston. The 45-year-old was deported February 12 and turned over to Mexican authorities. He is accused of murdering 22-year-old Geovany Prado on December 2, 2007 in Celaya, Guanajuato
David Gonzalez-Martinez was deported three times between 2001 and 2015. He was arrested by ICE and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office on February 5. The 52-year-old had four convictions, including voluntarily manslaughter
Nestor Rocha-Aguayo, of Mexico, was deported December 24, a week after he pleaded guilty to a drug charge in a Utah court. As part of his agreement, he was placed in ICE custody and removed from the U.S. But he made his way back to the country and allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend, whose body was found January 4 in Tooele County near Salt Lake City
ICE said an immigration judge granted him a voluntary departure December 19, 2024.
Just three days after Trump’s return to the office, ICE officers met their Mexican counterparts at the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, Texas and placed Romero in their custody.
Another repeat offender, David González-Martínez, was snared in Houston on February 5.
The 52-year-old Mexican national had been deported three times –September 2001, July 2008 and April 2015 – and had four convictions, including for voluntarily manslaughter.
Immediately after his arrest, ICE placed an immigration detainer with the Harris County Jail – the petition requires the jail to notify ICE if González-Martínez is about to be released. ICE agents can then place him in their custody.
Bradford called it an ‘indispensable tool’ for the agency.
‘They enable our officers to take direct custody of criminal aliens in the safe confines of the jail, which enhances the safety of everyone involved, and helps to eliminate unnecessary spending that would otherwise be required to go out and search for them in the community.’
Despite removals from the United States, undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds have found ways to make it back to the country
Nestor Flores, 58, who is wanted in Veracruz, Mexico for allegedly raping a child, made three border crossing attempts during a span of six days in February 2022 and was voluntarily returned to Mexico. He later came back to the United States and was arrested in Houston in August 2024 and was deported in January
Talian Benward (left) was found dead in Tooele County, near Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 4 after she was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend Nestor Rocha-Aguayo (right), who returned to the United States after he was deported to Mexico on December 24, 2024
Meanwhile, Mexican national Nestor Rocha-Aguayo allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend, Talian Benward, 31, in Utah a week after he was deported.
Rocha-Aguayo pleaded guilty to a drug charge on December 16, 2024, and as part of the deal with prosecutors was released to ICE, who deported him December 24.
He eventually made his way back to the United State at an unknown date and later contacted Benward to let her know that he was in the state.
She met him at local store in West Jordan on January 1 and was found dead in a remote area of Tooele County on January 4.
Rocha-Aguayo boarded a bus for Mexico the following day and was arrested by U.S. Marshals.
