President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, this evening, where he is expected to highlight a series of immigration enforcement actions carried out across the state, including the arrests of migrants convicted of child sex crimes, robbery, and child abuse.
White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the administration’s border policies have changed the landscape at the southern border. “President Trump stopped the invasion of our country and delivered Americans the most secure border in American history,” Bis said.
Trump is expected to point to 17 consecutive months without a single migrant release from the southern border, alongside an administration estimate that more than three million people living in the country illegally have left on their own.
Cases Cited in North Carolina
Among the cases the administration is expected to highlight is that of Nelson Alexander Chay, a Guatemalan national and registered sex offender. Chay has been convicted of 16 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor involving obscene material, as well as drunk driving.
Gustavo Cardenas Arreola, a Mexican national living in the country illegally with a final deportation order, was arrested in Graham, North Carolina. Arreola’s record includes 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
In Oxford, North Carolina, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Isidro Flores Rodriguez, a Mexican national who had evaded earlier capture. Rodriguez was previously convicted of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury.
Agents also arrested Thong Vilaiphone, a national of Laos convicted of possessing weapons of mass destruction, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and a felony probation violation. A federal immigration judge ordered Vilaiphone deported in February 1997.
In New Hanover County, agents last month arrested Francis Martinez Alvarez, a Honduran national convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and illegal re-entry. Alvarez had also been previously arrested for first-degree kidnapping, discharging a weapon at an occupied property, assault, and second-degree trespass. He was deported once in June 2007, evaded authorities, and was deported again last week.
Administration’s Broader Argument
Bis framed the arrests as part of a larger policy shift. “Under the President’s leadership, 3 million illegals have left the United States and zero illegals have been released at the border in seventeen months,” she said. “The President’s law and order policies have contributed to the largest decrease in violent crimes in American history. Meanwhile, radical Democrats want to go back to their extreme open border policies, abolish ICE, cashless bail, abolish prisons and flood American communities with criminals.”
The rally comes as the administration continues to promote its enforcement record ahead of the midterms, citing state-by-state arrest data as evidence of its immigration approach.
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