OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
3:00 PM – Tuesday, January 20, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security announced that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested over 7,000 criminal illegal alien gang members, including murderers, kidnappers, and thieves, during President Donald Trump’s first year of his second term.
“In President Trump’s first year in office, ICE arrested 7,000 gang members,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a press release. “When we say we are targeting the worst of the worst, this is exactly what we mean. Many of these were let in by Joe Biden and should have never been in this country. These vicious criminals murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport. But under President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s leadership, ICE is turbocharged to arrest even more gang members and make America safe again.”
The arrests targeted members from over a dozen gangs, including MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Crips, Bloods, Norteños, Trinitarios, Latin Kings, and others.
This massive benchmark is due to Trump’s hard work in beefing up immigration agencies and represents a major departure from the Biden administration, which allowed millions of illegal aliens to flood into the country with zero safety checks in place.
Enforcement operations across the country have prompted an unprecedented increase in violence and hostility toward ICE agents. Since Trump’s second term, there has been a reported 1,300% increase in assaults on immigration officers, with a 3,200% rise in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% surge in death threats.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem blames liberal politicians who stoke the flames of anti-ICE propaganda.
Some of the violent illegal aliens who were arrested include:
- Vicente Paul Carreno-Aular, an illegal alien from Venezuela and Tren de Aragua gang member. His criminal history includes homicide, assault, cruelty toward a child, domestic violence, and property damage. He entered the U.S. in 2022 and was released by the Biden administration. He was arrested on February 28th.
- Nester Fabian Londono, an illegal alien from Colombia and associate of the Latin Kings gang. He was convicted of homicide, voluntary manslaughter, smuggling heroin, and DUI. He was arrested on December 5th.
- Juan Antonio Jaimes-Lazaro, an illegal alien from Mexico and a part of the Mexican Mafia. He was convicted of homicide, battery, aggravated assault with a weapon, and smuggling contraband into a prison. He was arrested on August 12th.
- Kevin Elenilson Avalos Diaz, an illegal alien from El Salvador and associate of MS-13. He was convicted of homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide, and kidnapping and arrested for arson, battery, armed carjacking, and assault. He was released into the country by the Obama administration after entering the U.S. illegally in 2016. He was arrested on January 8th.
- Yony Ledesma-Pedraza, an illegal alien from Mexico and a Norteños gang member. His criminal history includes homicide, burglary, aggravated assault, and robbery. He was arrested on January 14th.
- Sy Reouth, a criminal illegal alien from Cambodia and a Crips gang member. He was convicted of homicide, robbery, and battery. He was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration. He was arrested on March 4th and deported on April 2nd.
In addition to the 7,000 gang arrests, the DHS reported over 500,000 total deportations in Trump’s first year back, amid heightened risks to agents.
The announcement highlights the administration’s push for strict immigration enforcement, which includes high-profile raids and demands for sanctuary states like New York and Minnesota to hand over detained migrants. The Trump administration ordered a halt to all federal payments to sanctuary states and cities starting February 1st. Trump argued that taxpayer dollars should not subsidize states that refuse to cooperate with ICE. Leaders in New York and California denounced the freeze as unconstitutional.
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