ICE exposes Biden's biggest border failure: Kids handed to sex abusers and criminals
One of the most shocking and horrifying scandals of the Biden administration was its botched handling of unaccompanied minor migrants who flooded into the country amid former President Joe Biden's open border chaos.
Government whistleblowers sounded the alarm that the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, under the prior administration's leadership, failed to thoroughly vet sponsors, ushering children into unsafe homes.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed those findings on Thursday.
'Children's safety and security is nonnegotiable.'
The agency issued a press release announcing that it discovered "widespread abuse" and "exploitation" of some of the children whom the ORR placed with "improperly vetted sponsors."
"As a result, these children were subjected to physical abuse and sexual and labor exploitation," ICE stated.
President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security launched a nationwide effort in February to locate unaccompanied minors whom the ORR placed with sponsors. As part of this effort, agents from ICE's Homeland Security Investigations are conducting welfare checks to ensure that children are safe from trafficking, exploitation, and abuse. They are also visiting the children and their sponsors to verify that they are receiving proper care, attending school, and complying with immigration proceedings.
RELATED: Trump admin pulls children from migrant shelters over sexual abuse claims
While these welfare checks are not focused on immigration enforcement, in situations where ICE agents encounter illegal aliens, they are taking them into custody.
ICE stated that agents have already uncovered "alarming" cases, such as sponsors who had committed serious crimes, including hit-and-run, aggravated assault, larceny, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, prostitution, attempted murder, and possession of child sexual abuse material. Additionally, some sponsors reportedly forced children into labor and subjected them to unacceptable living conditions.
ICE also indicated that sponsors paid smugglers to bring children into the United States and falsely claimed to be related to the children.
"In some of the most disturbing cases, girls were pregnant with children fathered by their alleged sponsors — which highlights the grave failures of previous vetting procedures and the dangerous consequences of placing minors in unsafe environments," ICE stated.
ICE spokesperson Laszlo Baksay said that agents are working tirelessly to locate the children.
"Children's safety and security is nonnegotiable," Baksay stated. "The previous administration's failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals."
"This is the responsibility of any government, Republican or Democrat, but it was the Trump administration that insisted on rigorous sponsor screening and biometric verification. Those guardrails were dismantled, and we're now seeing the consequences," Baksay added.
Baksay urged the media to "focus less on political spin and more on the facts."
"This is about the lives of children, and it's time we treat it with the seriousness [it] demands," Baksay remarked.
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Exclusive photos: ICE raids club owned by suspected terrorist — captures scores of illegal aliens, including alleged killer
Immigration and Customs Enforcement led an operation on Sunday in Charleston, South Carolina, that resulted in the arrest of a suspected terrorist and captured dozens of illegal aliens.
A Department of Homeland Security press release, obtained by Blaze News, stated that Homeland Security Investigations Charlotte led an operation alongside local law enforcement that targeted “an underground illegal nightclub” called the Alamo.
'Leave now or ICE will find you and deport you.'
The press release claimed the unlicensed establishment was operated by “a suspected member of the Los Zetas Cartel,” formally known as Cártel del Noreste, which President Donald Trump previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
According to the press release, ICE received a tip indicating that the Alamo was a hub for widespread illegal activities, including weapons, narcotics, and human trafficking.
ICE’s operation resulted in the arrest of 72 illegal aliens and the recovery of six children, who were then transferred to social services to ensure their safety and well-being.
The arrests are still being processed, the agency noted.
Federal immigration authorities also seized cash, narcotics, and firearms during Sunday’s raid.
ICE referred to Sergio Joel Galo-Baca, described as “a Honduran illegal alien and foreign fugitive with an active Interpol Red Notice for homicide in Honduras,” as one of its “most high-profile arrests” of the operation.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “Day in and day out, the brave men and women of ICE are working with local law enforcement to keep American communities safe. The successful operation that took place in the Charleston area resulted in more than 70 arrests of illegal aliens — including an international murder suspect and the dismantling of a nightclub run by a suspected cartel member where drug, weapon, and human trafficking were taking place.”
“Under President Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem, fugitives and law breakers are on notice: Leave now or ICE will find you and deport you," McLaughlin added.
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DHS, DOGE Work Together To Track Down Election Fraudsters
The Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency has referred 57 cases of potential voter fraud to the DOJ, an official told NBC News.Anti-ICE activists dox agents, sabotaging operations — Homan seeks retribution
Activists in the Los Angeles area doxxed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducting operations nearby, and border czar Tom Homan is pursuing criminal prosecution.
Fox News' Bill Melugin shared a photo earlier this week of a poster featuring several photographs of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officers, as well as their names and phone numbers.
'This shouldn't be controversial.'
He explained that the bulletins, posted around Southern California, roughly translated from Spanish to read, "Careful with these faces."
"These armed agents work in Southern California. ICE and HSI racially terrorize and criminalize entire communities with their policies. They kidnap people from their homes and from the streets, separating families and fracturing communities. Many people have died while locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers," it continued.
The poster warned that the law enforcement agents were expected to conduct some type of operation last Sunday.
"Per multiple federal law enforcement sources, anti ICE activists, which have been disrupting & live streaming ICE operations in the LA area in recent days, have now put up posters doxing SoCal ICE & HSI agents, revealing their faces, names, & phone numbers. I'm told ICE is aware and investigating," Melugin explained. "It is unclear which activist group is posting these."
On Wednesday, Homan addressed the doxxing plot on "Fox & Friends," stating that the posters "crossed the line."
Homan noted that, due to ongoing death threats, he has 24/7 security around his home.
"I know what it's like to be doxxed," he told Fox News. "These agents don't deserve that. These agents put a gun on their hip and wear a Kevlar vest every day, trying to make their communities safer."
He reiterated that the current deportation efforts are "focusing on the worst of the worst," including criminal and national security threats.
Homan stated that he had scheduled a meeting with Department of Justice officials to determine what can be done about the doxxing activists who are thwarting ICE's operations.
"I think it crossed the line of impeding a federal law enforcement officer in the performance of their duties. So I'm hoping we find out who these people are and we can criminally prosecute them," he added.
A Los Angeles FBI spokesperson told Fox News, "The FBI safeguards Constitutionally protected rights, including freedom of speech and assembly. However, any individual who impedes law enforcement operations, potentially threatening the safety of law enforcement agents and subjects of their investigations, is subject to investigation and potential prosecution by the Department of Justice."
Earlier this week, a DHS spokesperson told Fox News that the activists' attempts were "putting targets on the backs of our law enforcement as they shield MS-13, Tren de Aragua, and other vicious gangs that traffic women and children, kidnap for ransom, and poison Americans with lethal drugs."
"These individuals will be held accountable for obstructing the law and justice. This shouldn't be controversial," the spokesperson added.
The news outlet reported that anti-ICE activists sabotaged a federal law enforcement operation on Sunday involving ICE, the FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. ICE stated that the operation was not a raid.
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Tren de Aragua gang tied to over 100 investigations, including shootings and sex trafficking crimes: Report
The violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been tied to more than 100 criminal investigations in the United States, according to a Wednesday NBC News report.
The news outlet stated that U.S. law enforcement and immigration officials have initiated investigations involving shootings and sex trafficking crimes that are linked to the criminal organization.
New York Police Department officials have referred to Tren de Aragua members as "ghost criminals" because there is little information available to identify them other than their gang-affiliated tattoos.
Jason Savino, the NYPD's assistant chief of detectives, told NBC News, "Their identity may be misrepresented; their date of birth may be misrepresented."
"Everything about that individual could potentially be misrepresented," he added.
Before reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, many illegal aliens toss their identification cards and passports to prevent law enforcement agents from identifying them.
Venezuela does not cooperate with the U.S. to provide criminal background information about its citizens. Therefore, Customs and Border Protection agents have limited information about the potential criminal history of Venezuelan citizens crossing the border. Additionally, Venezuela largely refuses to accept deportation flights.
Former Border Patrol agent Ammon Blair told NBC News that U.S. border officials will only have access to a Venezuelan national's criminal history if they obtain the information from Interpol or that individual already has a criminal record in the U.S.
DHS' Homeland Security Investigation told the news outlet that it has over 100 open investigations involving members of the gang.
Last month, HSI arrested three Tren de Aragua members who were accused of running a sex trafficking operation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The gang members allegedly forced Venezuelan women into sex work to pay off smuggler debt for bringing them into the U.S. The individuals were reportedly apprehended by Border Patrol agents in Texas after illegally crossing into the country but later released.
Law enforcement agents in Indiana are investigating another suspected sex trafficking operation involving Tren de Aragua members.
On June 3, two NYPD officers were shot by a Venezuelan national illegally in the U.S. and believed to be a member of the gang. NBC News reported that it is unclear whether the suspect's involvement with the gang was known to Venezuelan authorities.
"While the group is well established in many South American countries," an Interpol spokesperson stated, "there is evidence that it is now expanding North, into Mexico and the United States, where key Tren de Aragua members have already been identified."
A DHS spokesperson told NBC News, "DHS screens and vets individuals prior to their entry to the United States. If an individual poses a threat to national security or public safety, we deny admission, detain, remove, or refer them to other federal agencies for further vetting, investigation and/or prosecution as appropriate."
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