Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, not shown, visits with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at the ICE facility in Chicago to observe enforcement operations, Oct. 3, 2025. (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)
The Department of Homeland Security is putting a spotlight on a series of ICE arrests across Texas, highlighting individuals the agency says include a suspected terrorist, murder fugitives, convicted child sex offenders, and drug traffickers, while accusing Texas democrats of attacking immigration enforcement.
"The men and women of ICE have arrested some of the most heinous criminal illegal aliens in Texas, including terrorists, pedophiles, drug traffickers, and fugitives wanted for murder," said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
DHS specifically highlighted Nazira Haji Zada, an Afghan national who had been living in Fort Worth. The agency says she supported a plot to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on election day in 2024 before being deported in September 2026.
The agency also pointed to Pedro Luis Ortiz-Mendez and Jose Vicente Ortiz-Mendez, two Mexican nationals arrested by ICE in Arlington in August 2025. DHS says both were wanted for multiple murders in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
Other cases include Pedro Trejo Reyes, whom DHS says was convicted in Texas of repeatedly sexually assumting his 12-year-old niece, and Eduardo Aguilar, who DHS says was arrested after offering a $10,000 reward for the murder of ICE agents.
DHS also highlighted recent arrests involving alleged or convicted offenders accused of crimes including attempted child sexual contact, cocaine trafficking, evading arrest, and resisting an officer.
The statement also escalated DHS' political fight with democratic Texas officials, calling out Rep. Greg Casar (D), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D), Austin Mayor Kirk Watson (D), and Councilwoman Krista Laine (D) for criticizing ICE. Mullin specifically accused "sanctuary politicians" of putting the interests of illegal immigrants ahead of public safety.
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