Homeland Security vows deportation operations ‘will continue’ as ICE agents help TSA, agency defunded

FIRST ON FOX: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are continuing deportation operations despite a lapse in federal funding and being deployed to assist with massive airport security lines across the country, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital.

According to the department, ICE officers continuing immigration enforcement operations nationwide arrested child predators, rapists, drug traffickers and a member of the violent Salvadoran MS-13 gang over the weekend.

This comes as ICE officers were seen assisting the understaffed Transportation Security Administration and airport staff at terminals across the country, including New York City, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta and New Orleans. On Sunday, Trump border czar Tom Homan told CBS News that ICE agents will “continue a nice presence” at airports until they “feel like they’re 100% … in a posture where they can do no normal operations.”

DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis addressed concerns that ICE would not be able to sustain its normal operations while assisting TSA by telling Fox News Digital that ICE “will continue arresting public safety threats from our communities and will not allow the Democrats to slow us down from making America safe again.”

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Bis said that “over the weekend, ICE arrested more dangerous criminals, including an MS-13 gang member, child predators, rapists and drug traffickers.” 

In the New York City area, where ICE was seen at John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports, the agency arrested Pierre Bell, a criminal illegal from Jamaica, who was convicted of rape in the Bronx.

In Illinois, where dozens of ICE agents were seen assisting TSA at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, ICE agents arrested Miguel Benitez-Campos, from Mexico, who was convicted of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon in Cook County.

Two criminal illegal aliens were also arrested in Harris County, which is home to Houston, the largest city in Texas, where two airports experienced massive delays and saw a heavy ICE presence. ICE officers arrested Jose Santos Vigil-Mendez, from El Salvador, and Jorge Luis Carrera-Hernandez, from Mexico. Vigil-Mendez was convicted of deadly conduct, and Carrera-Hernandez was convicted of deadly conduct and possession of a controlled substance.

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Meanwhile, in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C., ICE arrested Pedro Antonio Luna, from El Salvador, who was convicted of three counts of aggravated sexual battery of a victim under 13 years old and aggravated sexual battery by a family member of a child under 15 years old. This comes as nearby Fairfax County, Virginia, is embroiled in a scandal involving 19-year-old Salvadoran illegal alien Israel Flores Ortiz, who is accused of groping several minor girls at a high school he was attending.

DHS also shared that over the weekend it arrested six illegal aliens with serious criminal convictions in California.

ICE officers arrested Luis Calderon-Martinez, who, according to DHS, is a Salvadoran illegal alien and a member of the MS-13 gang. Calderon-Martinez has several felony convictions in New Jersey, Arizona and California, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, carjacking, hit-and-run, property damage and driving under the influence.

In Fullerton and Santa Barbara, California, near Los Angeles, ICE also arrested Angel Navarro-Camarillo and Higinio Gonzalez Machorro, both from Mexico. Navarro-Camarillo is a registered sex offender and active gang member. He was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old. Gonzalez Machorro was convicted of rape by use of drugs.

Just north of San Francisco, ICE also arrested Alfredo Luna-Ruiz, also from Mexico, who is convicted of false imprisonment, domestic violence, providing a false ID to a peace officer and driving under the influence in Sonoma County, California. 

This comes as Homeland Security continues to undergo a lapse in funding due to disagreements in Congress about immigration enforcement operations. Democrats have made resumed funding for the department contingent on changes to ICE and Border Patrol’s enforcement tactics. 

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Bis told Fox News Digital that “Democrats must stop playing political games and reopen DHS now.” 

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She added that TSA “is extremely grateful to the patriotic men and women of ICE who have deployed to airports that are facing a high number of callouts because of the Democrats’ shutdown.” 

“At the direction of President Trump and the Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, TSA officers should begin seeing paychecks as early as today,” said Bis, adding, “Working without pay forced more than 500 officers to leave TSA and thousands were forced to call out. ICE will continue working with TSA for as long as the President determines necessary to ensure Americans are able to travel safely nationwide.”