Trump has not taken his foot off the gas.
As Americans celebrated the nation’s 250th Independence Day, federal immigration authorities spent the holiday weekend carrying out enforcement operations that led to the arrest of numerous illegal immigrants with serious criminal records, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The arrests, announced by DHS on Monday, were part of ongoing immigration enforcement efforts targeting individuals accused or convicted of violent crimes and other offenses. Officials said those taken into custody included people with criminal histories involving murder, kidnapping, child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, burglary, assault, and other felony offenses.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis praised ICE officers for working throughout the holiday weekend.
“While Americans celebrated the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation on Earth, the brave men and women of ICE were arresting the worst of the worst,” Bis said. She added that officers continued their work around the clock to help protect communities across the country.
The department also highlighted the agency’s recent expansion under President Donald Trump. According to DHS, ICE has hired roughly 12,000 additional officers and agents in less than a year, more than doubling its operational workforce.
Bis credited the increase to funding provided through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, saying the additional personnel will strengthen the agency’s ability to enforce immigration laws and remove dangerous criminal offenders from American communities.
Among those arrested was Radimir Thompson-Nagle, a Panamanian national who, according to ICE, has prior convictions in Brooklyn, New York, for murder and assault.
Federal officials also identified Marcos Rubio-Hernandez, a Mexican national previously convicted of second-degree murder and kidnapping in Wilson County, North Carolina.
Another individual taken into custody, Roberto Gutierrez-Diaz of Mexico, had prior convictions in Louisville, Kentucky, that included burglary, attempted rape involving domestic violence, and multiple offenses involving the sexual abuse of a child under the age of 12, according to ICE.
Authorities also announced the arrest of Francisco Olmedo-Silva, a Mexican national with convictions in Oregon, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania involving methamphetamine and heroin trafficking, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, robbery, and escape from custody.
Pedro Mazorra-Herrera, a Cuban national, was also arrested after previous convictions in Miami, Florida, including aggravated stalking, burglary with assault or battery, resisting an officer with violence, and cocaine possession, federal officials said.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration continues emphasizing the removal of illegal immigrants with criminal records while expanding immigration enforcement nationwide.
The administration has also increased its criticism of sanctuary jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Supporters of the policy argue that closer coordination between local law enforcement and ICE improves public safety by helping remove repeat offenders from communities.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin echoed that message Monday in a post on X, arguing that sanctuary policies make it more difficult for federal authorities to detain criminal offenders living in the country illegally. He also noted that several cities frequently ranked among the nation’s safest cooperate closely with ICE.
Mullin’s comments followed a Fox News Digital report stating that Fairfax County, Virginia, declined to honor 615 ICE detainer requests over the past 16 months while transferring only 11 illegal immigrants into federal custody during that period. Fairfax County adopted sanctuary-style policies in 2021, an approach that continues to generate debate over the role local governments should play in federal immigration enforcement.
As the administration moves forward with its immigration agenda, officials say expanding ICE’s workforce and increasing cooperation with local jurisdictions remain key priorities in their efforts to strengthen border security, enforce immigration laws, and focus deportation resources on illegal immigrants with serious criminal histories.
