ICE Arrests Criminal Sexual Predators Among Illegal Immigrants in Nationwide Operation

National Guard members and a federal agent block people protesting an ICE immigration operation at a nearby licensed cannabis farm near Camarillo, California, on July 10, 2025. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported on July 14 that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a group of criminal sexual predators and pedophiles who were in the country illegally.

“Over the weekend, our brave ICE agents arrested monstrous illegal aliens convicted of heinous crimes, including rape of a child, sexual assault, and possession of child pornography,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

McLaughlin noted that although agents are facing a nearly 700 percent increase in assaults, they remain committed to making American communities safer every day.

“We will only double down in getting these dangerous criminals off of our streets,” she said.

Among those detained are Porfirio Bernal-Fregoso, a 45-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico arrested in Atlanta over the weekend for attempting to rape a child and for “indecent liberties” with a child in Durham County, North Carolina.

Additionally, ICE agents in Baltimore arrested Edwin Gómez-Cervantes, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who had been convicted of sexual abuse of a minor in Upper Marlboro, Maryland; and Rodrigo Alexander Gómez-Ventura, an illegal immigrant criminal from El Salvador who had been convicted in Hagerstown, Maryland, for possession of child pornography.

Over the weekend in Salt Lake City, ICE agents arrested Juan Hernan Camarena-Cuevas, a 32-year-old illegal immigrant criminal of Mexican origin who had previously been convicted of child abuse and battery.

Houston ICE agents arrested Sergio Guerrero-Galván, an illegal immigrant criminal from Mexico who had been convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a minor in Travis County, Texas, among other crimes.

Meanwhile, in San Antonio, ICE agents arrested Hugo Sánchez-Benítez, an illegal immigrant criminal from Mexico convicted of aggravated sexual assault in Houston.

DHS noted in a post on social media platform X that under the Trump administration, ICE is working around the clock to detain “the worst of the worst” criminals in American communities.

On July 10, ICE detained 361 illegal immigrants and encountered 14 unaccompanied minors during an operation at two marijuana farms in Southern California, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on July 13.

Among those arrested were “criminals with convictions for rape, serial burglary, hit and run, and DUIs,” McLaughlin said in a July 13 statement.