BREITBART | Published March 10, 2025
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Department of Justice filed nearly 200 new federal criminal cases related to immigration and border security last week, following several weeks of intense deportation raids in and around Houston and other South Texas cities.
The immigration actions involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), and other federal agencies, which ramped up after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Of the nearly 200 newly filed cases, almost 100 involve illegal aliens charged with re-entering the country after removal. According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, most of these cases involve defendants with prior felony convictions that include narcotics offenses, violent crimes, and prior immigration offenses. More than 80 defendants face charges of illegally entering the country; 12 cases involve human smuggling, and the remainder relate to other immigration crimes.
Multiple defendants are charged in a new indictment related to assaulting law enforcement officers. The latest indictment charges a dozen illegal aliens concerning an assault on two correctional officers at the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa, Texas. If convicted, the defendants face up to eight years in federal prison.
Also charged this week are two South Texas bakery owners who were indicted for harboring illegal aliens. At the time of a consensual worksite enforcement action in mid-February at Abby’s Bakery and Dulce’s Café, law enforcement officers conducting immigration-related duties allegedly identified several employees and others who were in the United States illegally or in the country with visitor visas that did not allow them the right to work. The bakery owners were alleged to have housed these illegal alien workers in an adjacent room with six mattresses on the floor, according to the United States Attorney’s office.
Several individuals have also been sentenced for other various border-related crimes against the United States, such as the leader of an organization who smuggled aliens through Corpus Christi, Texas, and was ordered to forfeit $1 million in proceeds from his illegal alien smuggling scheme that lasted for three years or more.
The smuggling case involves Marvin Reyes, who authorities assert led the human smuggling organization, which was based out of Houston. The investigation revealed he and others were coordinating the movement of illegal aliens through the Border Patrol checkpoints located near Sarita and Falfurrias as well as by airplane. Reyes also arranged private flights for illegal aliens from Weslaco to Houston. He was ordered to serve 108 months in prison.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the immigration raids in Texas included operations in Colony Ridge, a well-known migrant colony in Liberty County. Colony Ridge is a more than 30,000-acre housing development located less than forty miles north of Houston. The subdivision has been the subject of numerous media stories linking it to a significant population of aliens in an illegal status and for the developer’s questionable land sales tactics, mainly targeting Hispanic consumers.
The area is frequently noted for criminal activity related to aliens illegally present in the United States. As reported by Breitbart Texas, three previously deported illegal aliens were arrested in a targeted traffic stop that resulted in the seizure of nearly 350 pounds of methamphetamine in mid-February. A multi-agency law enforcement task force from Liberty County developed information from the three previously deported migrants that led to the discovery of methamphetamine in a trailer located in Colony Ridge after the vehicle stop.
The United States Attorney’s Southern District of Texas remains one of the busiest in the nation. It represents 43 counties and more than nine million people, covering 44,000 square miles. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from all seven divisions, including Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, and Laredo, work directly with law enforcement officers at the federal, state, and local levels to prosecute federal crimes within the district.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
RELATED: Texas immigrants with legal status speak out after being detained by ICE
Two immigrants tell their story about being detained, despite having legal paperwork.
Immigrants speak out following ICE detainment. (Brammhi Balarajan/Chron) Brammhi Balarajan
CHRON | Published March 6, 2025
Immigrant rights advocates are sounding the alarm after two Houston residents were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) despite the residents saying they had legal authorization to be in the U.S. The incidents, part of a larger pattern of ICE raids in Texas, highlight growing concerns over the agency’s handling of individuals with valid work permits and other legal documentation.
This backlash follows a series of high-profile ICE raids conducted across Texas in recent weeks, including targeted operations at Colony Ridge and various work sites. Texas politicians have taken to social media in the wake of these raids to spotlight these controversial operations.
Two immigrants spoke out during a news conference Thursday about their experiences with ICE detainment—despite stating they have legal authorization to be in the U.S.
One of the immigrants was Sergio Carlos Gomez, a 30-year-old railroad worker, who has been a DACA recipient since 2013 and said he has never missed a renewal deadline for the program. Last Thursday, while coming back from work, he got pulled over at an internal checkpoint, which are locations where agents check the legal status of the drivers.
He showed his work permit to the officer, but was still arrested and detained.
All the while, his family had no idea where he was or what had happened to him.
“I thought I was going to be sent back to Mexico,” Sergio said. “My parents, they would worry about me being sent back to Mexico. I was seven years old when we came over here. If I get sent back to Mexico, I don’t know nothing about over there.”
When immigration officers asked him to sign documents, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind stopped him.
“When he was asked to sign something he didn’t understand, he did not sign it. This could be a way different story if Sergio had signed those papers,” a spokesperson for FIEL, an immigrants’ rights organization said.
But while Sergio has been able to return home, another family still doesn’t know what happened to their son.
Yolanda Ramirez spoke out about her son, Kevin Zaldana, who was detained last Tuesday. She said she immigrated to the U.S. with her two kids when they were young because they were being persecuted by gangs, and she didn’t want that future for them.
Kevin is a 20-year-old construction worker who has been in the U.S. since 2018.
Despite the harrowing experience of being approached by ICE at a worksite raid, Kevin thought he would be fine, his mother said. He knew his social security number, and had all the information prepared. He had every legal authorization to be in the U.S., his lawyer said.
When he was detained, he was told he had an order of removal, which his attorney said is false.
Attorney Susana Hart said that ICE’s detaining of Kevin was unlawful.
“Despite having followed every step legally and having a valid work permit, he was arrested at a labor raid and continues to be wrongfully detained. This is not just a bureaucratic error; it is an affront to justice and to the immigrant community,” Hart said.
“Detaining someone with a clear path to residency and eventually U.S. citizenship is cruel, unnecessary and contrary to the values of this country. We demand that the immigration authorities do the right thing and release Kevin immediately.”
ICE has not said why they are holding Kevin. Chron reached out to ICE for comment, but they did not respond by press time
“We have been telling people to carry their EAD cards or permanent resident cards or their documents with them to keep this from happening, and it seems that immigration is not following their own protocols,” a spokesperson for FIEL said.
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