Javier Hernandez Alcon, a Mexican national deported twice, was picked up on October 20 in Liberty, Texas. The charges waiting for him: burglary, illegal reentry, and a capital murder arrest. He was one of 4,170 illegal aliens arrested in ten days.
He wasn't even the worst case in the stack.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the results of ICE's "Lone Star Mission" from Dallas, and the numbers hit like a freight train. "Lone Star Mission has been an incredible success, with the brave patriots of ICE arresting more than 4,100 illegal aliens across the state of Texas in ten days," Mullin said. That averages to 417 arrests per day — a pace that means ICE field offices in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Harlingen, and El Paso were running operations around the clock.
The roster of who got swept up tells you everything about what was living in Texas neighborhoods before the operation started. Ramon Antonio Martinez, a Honduran national wanted for an alleged killing, was arrested October 23 in Houston. Gerardo Daniel Rivera-Rivera, a Mexican national convicted of felony sexual assault and illegal reentry, was picked up October 24 in Zapata County. Orlando Aguilar, also from Mexico, had a felony intoxication assault with a vehicle conviction and a DWI — arrested October 24 in Dallas.
Then there's Victor Manuel Macias-Castro, a confirmed member of Mexico's La Linea Cartel, convicted of conspiracy, illegal entry, and illegal reentry. Arrested October 22 in El Paso. A cartel operative living inside American borders until ICE showed up at the door.
"Thanks to Texas law enforcement and our federal partners, over the course of this operation, we arrested murderers, sexual assailants, drunk drivers, and alien smugglers," Mullin said. That's not a press release crafted to sound tough. That's a literal inventory of what ICE pulled off the streets in a week and a half.
The 4,170 people arrested in ten days include a man wanted for murder, a cartel member, and a convicted sex offender. The constitutional arguments against ICE agents removing illegals from the U.S. gets thinner when the defendant list reads like a most-wanted bulletin.
"This operation shows exactly how important our state and local partnerships are for protecting American communities," Mullin added. "Thanks to President Trump's leadership, ICE has been fully unleashed to go after criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again."
Four thousand one hundred seventy arrests. Ten days. Five field offices. One state. The deportation machine doesn't have an off switch anymore — it has a scoreboard.