ICE Arrests 4,170 Illegal Aliens in 10 Days Across Texas. Over 60% Had Criminal Records

ICE arrested 4,170 illegal aliens across Texas in just 10 days, and more than 60% of them had criminal records, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Thursday.

Mullin announced the results of Operation Lone Star Mission at a Dallas press conference, joined by ICE field office leaders and local law enforcement partners. "Over 60% of those individuals had a criminal background," he said. They "should have never been on our streets."

How big is 417 a day?

Do the math: 4,170 arrests over 10 days is about 417 a day. DHS told Fox News it was some of the largest daily numbers the agency has ever seen for a single state.

The best yardstick is ICE's own record book. In April 2025, ICE and Florida ran Operation Tidal Wave, which ICE called "the largest number in a single state in one week in ICE's history." That was 1,120 arrests over six days, or about 187 a day. Texas just ran at more than twice that pace, and kept it up for 10 days.

A month-long surge in Massachusetts in May 2025, Operation Patriot, netted 1,461 arrests. That works out to fewer than 50 a day, and ICE said there that local jails refusing its detainers forced officers to make arrests out on the street.

Who they caught

The sweep ran through all five ICE deportation field offices in Texas: Dallas, El Paso, Harlingen, Houston and San Antonio.

Miguel Vergara, who runs ICE's Dallas field office, pointed to Orlando Aguilar, an illegal alien who had already been deported once. Aguilar's record, Vergara said, includes felony intoxication assault with a vehicle causing serious bodily injury and a second DWI.

Houston field office director Brett Bradford highlighted Ramon Antonio Martinez, 45, a Honduran who had been deported before and is wanted in Honduras for murder. Harris County constables helped catch him. "If this were a sanctuary jurisdiction, that individual will still be in our communities victimizing our communities," Bradford said.

'This is what cooperation looks like'

That was the theme of the day. Texas sheriffs and police work with ICE, many through the 287(g) program that lets local officers help enforce immigration law. Sanctuary cities refuse.

"I want to point out to our sanctuary politicians, this is what cooperation looks like. This is what law and order looks like. This is what safety looks like," Mullin said. "When you support sanctuary policies, you're supporting gangbangers, you're supporting child pedophiles, you're supporting rapists, you're supporting cartels."

He also had a message for critics of ICE. "The Department of Homeland Security didn't make these laws. Congress made these laws, and we enforce the laws that Congress passed," he said. "Protecting our homeland should never be controversial."

Texas is a far bigger state than Massachusetts, so raw totals only go so far. But the daily pace shows what ICE can do when state and local partners help instead of fight.