ICE lodged a detainer on Jose Maldonado-Zavala, a 60-year-old previously deported illegal migrant from Honduras, after he was charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in his Pasadena, Texas apartment complex on July 2. Investigators said Maldonado-Zavala lured the victim by pretending her air conditioner was leaking into his apartment, then grabbed and dragged her inside before sexually assaulting her. The victim fought off the suspect and escaped.

Mario Sandoval, a 27-year-old Houston resident and National Guard member deployed to South Texas to help secure the border, was convicted on July 21 of conspiring to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States following a one-day trial in federal court in Corpus Christi. The investigation was conducted jointly by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Corpus Christi, the DOD's Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility. Sandoval faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Houston Police Department detectives arrested three illegal aliens from El Salvador — Abner Ruiz, Carlos Gomez, and Erick Menjivar — for online solicitation of a minor as part of an ongoing sting operation targeting dating apps. The three men allegedly used the dating app Jaumo to communicate with who they believed were girls aged 14 to 16. One of the men also faces charges of fleeing in a vehicle and failure to stop and render aid after crashing into a gate and injuring a pedestrian.

Surveillance video captured illegal migrant Jose Armando Carcamo-Perdomo, a Honduran national, carrying a screaming Chinese migrant woman back to a Houston trailer home where she was allegedly being held captive for days as a sex slave without food or water. The footage shows Carcamo-Perdomo restraining the hysterical victim in a bear-hug grip as she attempted to kick and wrangle free, with a neighbor alerting police after witnessing the abduction on the street. Authorities said the woman was confined inside a closet at the trailer home.

Enil Edil Mejia-Zuniga, 34, a Honduran national unlawfully residing in the U.S., was sentenced on July 9 to 10 years in federal prison for his leadership role in a massive alien smuggling conspiracy spanning three years and involving thousands of migrants from over 11 countries. The investigation was conducted by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Del Rio alongside multiple federal and state law enforcement partners in South Texas. Mejia-Zuniga was also ordered to pay restitution as part of his sentence.

Mirna Luna, 38, of Georgia, was sentenced on July 9 to 46 months in federal prison for smuggling several firearms and magazines hidden inside a vehicle's gas tank into Mexico, following an investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations Rio Grande Valley. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. noted the seriousness of firearms trafficking in handing down the sentence. Luna had pleaded guilty on April 1.

Richard Rindeikis, 44, received a 10-year federal prison sentence for conspiring to transport illegal aliens. On November 18, 2024, U.S. Border Patrol agents discovered 25 undocumented individuals from five countries hidden inside a sealed tanker trailer during a checkpoint inspection near Carrizo Springs, Texas. The ICE and Border Patrol investigation led to Rindeikis's guilty plea in February 2025.

A La Pryor man received a 120-year consecutive sentence for conspiracy to kidnap and harboring illegal aliens. ICE and San Antonio Police revealed that Joshua Lee Balderas, 33, transported and held seven migrants captive in hotel rooms while extorting ransom payments from their families, with one family paying $7,000 for release. The severe penalty reflects the gravity of human smuggling crimes that included sexual assault and threats with firearms against vulnerable victims.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Dallas apprehended Maria Julia Varela, a 36-year-old El Salvadoran national with gang affiliations, on June 30. Varela is wanted by El Salvador authorities for her involvement in planning an assassination plot. The arrest was conducted as part of HSI's National Gang surge operation, with assistance from multiple federal and state law enforcement agencies.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of five individuals unlawfully present in the U.S. who have convictions ranging from murder to child sexual abuse. A DHS official stated that "these are not minor offenses" and described the arrestees as "predators, abusers and murderers who should have never been in our country." The arrests reflect the Trump administration's heightened enforcement efforts against immigrants with serious criminal histories.