A total of 478 individuals have been charged across Texas and Arizona over the past week in cases involving border and immigration-related crimes.
In Texas, 199 people, including 175 illegal immigrants, were charged in 194 cases between July 10 and 16, according to a July 17 statement from the Department of Justice (DOJ). Authorities filed 146 criminal complaints in the Southern District of Texas for felony reentry after prior removal. Illegal entry charges were filed against 17 individuals.
According to the DOJ, most of the arrested illegal immigrants have prior felonies, such as violent crimes, immigration crimes, and narcotics. Twenty-eight people were charged with human smuggling, including 12 illegal immigrants. Charges related to firearms have also been leveled against some of the apprehended people. One of the arrested individuals has a prior conviction for online solicitation of a minor.
In Arizona, 279 individuals were charged during the July 11–17 week following immigration enforcement operations, according to another DOJ statement on July 17.
Authorities filed 56 cases in the District of Arizona in which illegal immigrants were accused of reentering the United States unlawfully. Officials charged 206 illegal immigrants with illegally entering the country. Cases were filed against 17 individuals for allegedly smuggling foreign nationals into Arizona.
The operation seeks to repel the entry of illegal immigrants into the United States, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and set up Homeland Security task forces to dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks.
In California, 111 border-related cases were filed this week, the DOJ said in a July 17 statement. Charges filed at the Southern District of California include reentering the United States after deportation, importing controlled substances, and bringing in illegal immigrants for financial gain.
Among the arrested are a Mexican national with three prior felony immigration convictions, and a U.S. citizen who tried to traffic 131 pounds of cocaine when applying for entering the United States.
ICE Enforcement
The Trump administration is facing opposition from certain jurisdictions over immigration-related arrests.
In April, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to pass the ICE OUT legislation package, which placed restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities in the city, according to a council statement on April 15.
The legislation bans the city from collaborating or sharing data with ICE, restricts ICE activity in city-owned spaces, and makes it illegal for ICE and other law enforcement agents to hide their identities with face masks and unmarked vehicles.
The committee’s vote on the ICE OUT package “affirms that we will stand with our immigrant communities and refuse to turn our backs on those who call this city home,” Councilmember Rue Landau said in a statement at the time.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the ban on face masks and unmarked vehicles on July 2 after the federal government requested a preliminary injunction. The prohibition was set to come into effect on July 7.
Judge Chad Kenney of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who issued the ruling, said the city’s law “attempted to sidestep the Constitution’s clear mandate.”
Meanwhile, ICE said in a July 1 statement that the Secure America Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in June, provides the agency with $350 million in additional funding that would enable the arrests of more criminal illegal immigrants hiding in sanctuary jurisdictions.
Acting ICE director David J. Venturella said in the statement that sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to honor ICE detainers or coordinate to safely transfer illegal immigrants from local custody to federal authorities.
“As a result, criminal illegal aliens who could have been transferred directly to ICE are instead released into our communities, forcing our officers to locate and arrest them in neighborhoods, businesses, and other public locations,” Venturella said.
“The funding from this legislation will help ICE increase its capacity to monitor releases and arrest removable criminal aliens when sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.”
