Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a series of convicted gang members last week, including individuals tied to MS-13, the 18th Street gang, Latin Kings and the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the operation targeted people with records including kidnapping, assault, drug trafficking and burglary. “Last week, the brave men and women of ICE made our country safer by deporting illegal alien gang members, including kidnappers, violent assailants, drug traffickers, and burglars,” Mullin said.
One of those deported, Balmore Vladimir Hernandez-Lopez of El Salvador, is a member of MS-13 with a conviction for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and arrests for human trafficking, smuggling contraband into a prison, and resisting an officer. He first entered the U.S. illegally as an unknown got-away. A federal immigration judge ordered him deported in June 2007, and he was deported in June 2016. He crossed the southern border illegally again in February 2017 and was arrested and deported that same month under the Trump administration. He later crossed the border illegally a third time.
Other Cases Detailed by DHS
Erik Alexis Valladares-Corea, a Honduran national and MS-13 member, was deported on August 24. His record includes convictions for abduction, weapons possession and illegal re-entry, plus arrests for malicious wounding, resisting an officer, speeding and drug paraphernalia possession. He crossed into Texas illegally in April 2015 and was released by the Obama administration. A Department of Justice immigration judge issued a final removal order on May 19, 2020, and the Trump administration deported him on May 29, 2020. He later re-entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location.
Enrique Carrasco-Polanco, a Mexican national and Sinaloa Cartel member, was deported on August 29. He has convictions for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, drug possession, marijuana sales and illegal re-entry. He has been deported three times previously — in 2014, 2015 and 2017 — after a final removal order issued October 14, 2014.
Abner Geovani Del Valle-Lemus, a Guatemalan national and member of the 18th Street gang, was deported on August 28. His convictions include battery, possession of a stolen vehicle, vehicle theft, burglary and vandalism. Border Patrol arrested him in June 2014, but the Obama administration released him into the country. A final removal order was issued July 8, 2026.
Brian Damian Iglesias-Rodriguez, a Uruguayan national and Latin Kings member, was deported on August 24. His convictions include assault, burglary of a vehicle, joyriding, unlawful control of a vehicle, shoplifting, receiving stolen property, drug paraphernalia possession, controlled substance possession, obstructing police and criminal trespass. He says he entered the U.S. illegally through New York in 2002. A final removal order was issued June 17, 2021, and he was deported August 7, 2021. He re-entered illegally, was arrested by Border Patrol on October 28, 2021, and was deported again on February 9, 2022. He then illegally entered the U.S. a third time.
“The Trump Administration is working hard every single day to undo the damage caused by the Biden Administration’s reckless open-border policies,” Mullin said. “We will never apologize for deporting illegal aliens, because that’s how we save lives.”
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