In just a two-week span, fugitive operations officers from the federal Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston and the ERO Waco office successfully apprehended five illegal immigrants who are currently wanted for murder or homicide in the United States or abroad.
According to a press release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), agents were able to arrest a Honduran wanted in Mexico for “multiple murders,” a Honduran wanted in Charlotte, NC for homicide, and three Mexican nationals wanted for murders in Mexico.
Following the string of arrests, ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford commended officers for all that they do to enforce the nation’s immigration laws and enhance public safety.
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House Bill 370 would require sheriffs in North Carolina to fulfill ICE detainer requests, which can be used to hold criminal suspects up to 48 hours. These holdings currently aren’t mandatory. (AP Photo)
ERO Houston Assistant Field Office Director John D. Linscott echoed similar sentiments and credited their success to the professionalism and pride that they take in executing their mission.
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“The professionalism of the officers from ERO Houston’s fugitive operations teams is showcased in these arrests,” said Linscott. “The quick response to locate, arrest and remove these threats from the community exhibits the pride and importance that these men and women take in their job every day.”
These latest arrests come amid heightened concerns surrounding border security after eight Tajikistan nationals with suspected ties to ISIS were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in conjunction with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in three major cities.
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Illegal immigrants seek entry to the U.S. at the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Fox News)
All eight Tajikistan nationals crossed the U.S. southern border illegally, and according to a federal source familiar with the sting, no derogatory information was initially flagged with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during processing.
This all comes as FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee last week that there is an increasing concern of a potential coordinated attack in the U.S., similar to the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) attack in March at a concert hall in Russia.
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Wray told members of the subcommittee that when he met with them last year, he walked them through how the U.S. was already in a heightened threat environment, and since then, threats from foreign terrorists have risen to another level.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.