Reports out of Houston, Texas indicate that the Trump administration’s deportation efforts have removed so many illegal immigrants, portions of the city look like a “ghost town.” A source within Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) explained that the agency had undergone a mass deportation effort in Houston titled “Operation 47.”
While the operation has proven successful, producing several high-profile criminal arrests, the effort is reportedly impacting local businesses. Sources claim that stores, restaurants, and bars in parts of Houston are virtually empty as illegal immigrants are hesitant to come outside, fearful of being apprehended by ICE. One report noted that a popular farmer’s market, usually bustling with activity, came to a standstill recently.
However, the deportation operation has produced numerous arrests of illegal aliens who have committed heinous crimes, including child sex offenses and violence. For example, reports indicate that authorities arrested David Lopez Javier, a 45-year-old from Honduras who has already been deported twice. Officials say Javier had already entered the country illegally three times.
While in the United States illegally, Javier has been convicted of committing numerous crimes, charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a child, cocaine trafficking, cocaine possession, illegal re-entry into the United States after removal, and two convictions for larceny. Another illegal immigrant with criminal convictions was Efrain Gomez Cac, a 30-year-old previously removed migrant from Guatemala, previously convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing bodily harm and driving while intoxicated.
Commenting on the arrests of these two individuals, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said, “Criminal aliens who repeatedly violate our nation’s immigration laws only to commit sex offenses against innocent minors, traffic deadly narcotics in our local communities, or commit violent offenses against law-abiding residents are quickly finding out that the law enforcement community is united and more determined than ever in our resolve to bolster public safety, national security, and border security here in Southeast Texas.”
The American Tribune recently reported on comments from Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, who maintained that he would carry out deportations “without apology” when reacting to Selena Gomez’s video of herself crying about President Trump’s agenda. Homan maintained that he was acting in the interest of public safety and national security.
“I don’t think we arrested any families. We’ve arrested public safety threats and national security threats, bottom line. And look, President Trump won the election on this one issue, securing our border and saving lives. What happened on our southern border, last four years, is the biggest national security threat this country’s seen, at least in my lifetime,” Homan said.
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He continued, “We’re going to do this operation without apology. We’re going to make our communities safer. We’re going to save. Once we lock that border, we’re going to continue this operation you’re going to see fentanyl deaths decrease, illegal alien crime decrease, sex trafficking decrease. It’s all for the good of the nation. We are going to keep going. No apologies. We are going to keep going.”
Watch Homan’s comments below:
Featured image credit: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ICE_ERO_Dallas_Targeted_Enforcement_Operation_-_50044961867.jpg