BOMBSHELL: More than 4,000 Illegals Arrested in DHS’ Massive Sweep in…

President Donald Trump’s administration has announced the arrests of 4,170 immigrants unlawfully present in the United States during a massive 10-day immigration enforcement operation across Texas, with federal officials reporting that more than 60% of those taken into custody had criminal histories.

The operation, known as Lone Star Mission, was conducted between October 19 and October 29 and involved Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel working alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement partners.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the results Thursday during a news conference in Dallas, highlighting what the administration described as a coordinated statewide enforcement campaign.

The operation brought together ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations field offices from Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, and Harlingen.

Federal officials said the five offices coordinated arrests and investigative resources across Texas in an effort to locate and detain individuals suspected of violating federal immigration laws.

The operation was carried out as part of Trump’s broader second-term immigration enforcement agenda.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has directed federal agencies to increase immigration arrests, expand removal operations, and prioritize individuals with serious criminal histories.

The latest Texas operation represents one of the administration’s most substantial recently announced coordinated immigration enforcement efforts within a single state.

Mullin praised the federal immigration officers involved in carrying out the operation.

He declared, “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.”

The Homeland Security secretary also emphasized the role played by Texas law enforcement agencies and federal partners.

According to the department, the operation resulted in arrests involving individuals with convictions or allegations associated with serious crimes.

Officials identified individuals with histories involving homicide-related offenses, sexual assault, driving while intoxicated, burglary, illegal reentry, and human smuggling.

Mullin said, “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.”

The department reported that more than 60% of the arrested individuals had criminal histories.

That figure includes individuals with previous criminal arrests or convictions, and should not be interpreted as meaning every person in that group had been convicted of a violent crime.

Federal officials also acknowledged that some of those arrested did not have previously identified criminal records.

The operation therefore included both criminal enforcement priorities and broader immigration-law violations.

Among the individuals named by DHS was Javier Hernandez Alcon, a Mexican national arrested in Liberty, Texas, on October 20.

According to the department, Hernandez Alcon had previously been deported twice and had convictions for burglary and illegal reentry.

Officials also reported that he had been arrested in connection with a capital murder allegation.

Another individual identified by DHS was Orlando Aguilar, who was arrested in Dallas on October 24.

The department reported that Aguilar had prior convictions involving felony intoxication assault and driving while intoxicated.

In Houston, agents arrested Ramon Antonio Martinez on October 23.

DHS said Martinez was wanted by authorities in Honduras in connection with an alleged killing.

Officials also identified Gerardo Daniel Rivera-Rivera, who was arrested in Zapata County on October 24.

According to federal immigration records described by DHS, Rivera-Rivera had convictions involving felony sexual assault and illegal reentry.

Another arrest involved Victor Manuel Macias-Castro, whom DHS identified as a member of the La Línea cartel.

Federal authorities said Macias-Castro was arrested in El Paso on October 22.

The named cases were presented by the department as examples of individuals with serious criminal or immigration histories encountered during the operation.

Those cases illustrate the types of enforcement priorities identified by the administration, although they represent only a small portion of the overall 4,170 arrests.

The statewide operation required coordination across five geographically dispersed ICE jurisdictions.

Texas’s size and its extensive border with Mexico present significant logistical demands for immigration enforcement operations.

The state’s major population centers, including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, also fall under different field-office jurisdictions.

By coordinating the five offices, ICE sought to combine resources and conduct enforcement activities across multiple regions during the same period.

The operation also relied on information-sharing and cooperation involving Texas police departments and sheriff’s offices.

Federal officials credited those partnerships with helping locate individuals targeted for arrest.

Such cooperation can involve immigration-status inquiries, access to detention facilities, coordination over individuals already in custody, and support during law enforcement operations, depending on applicable agreements and legal authority.

The Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized the role of state and local cooperation in carrying out federal immigration enforcement.

Mullin connected the Texas arrests directly to the president’s immigration priorities.

He said, “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ICE has been fully unleashed to go after criminal illegal aliens and make America safe again.”

The statement reflected the administration’s commitment to expanding immigration enforcement resources and conducting coordinated operations.

The number of arrests also highlights the scale of federal immigration activity in Texas during the 10-day period.

With 4,170 arrests reported, the operation averaged approximately 417 arrests per day.

That figure is a simple average across the entire operation and does not mean arrests occurred evenly across all locations or dates.

DHS did not publicly provide a complete individual breakdown of every arrest by offense, criminal history, nationality, or location in its initial announcement.

The department also did not identify how many individuals had already been deported following their arrests.

An immigration arrest is not equivalent to a completed removal from the United States.

Individuals taken into custody may face immigration proceedings, detention decisions, or removal based on their legal circumstances.

Those procedures can involve administrative review, federal immigration courts, or other legal requirements.

The operation’s announced results therefore measure arrests rather than final deportations or criminal convictions.

The administration has made the removal of individuals unlawfully present in the country a central policy objective, particularly when those individuals have histories involving serious criminal offenses.

The latest operation demonstrates how ICE is coordinating federal enforcement personnel across large geographic areas to carry out that objective.

For Homeland Security officials, Lone Star Mission provides a major example of the results they say can be achieved through coordinated statewide operations.

The department has indicated that immigration enforcement efforts will continue beyond the conclusion of the Texas campaign.

The October 29 announcement places the 4,170 arrests at the center of a continuing national debate over immigration enforcement, public safety, and the federal government’s responsibilities under existing law.