Trump’s border crackdown is hitting criminal migrants where it hurts. The latest ICE raids have netted hundreds of dangerous criminals including high-ranking MS-13 gang members who thought they could hide in American communities.
At a glance:
• ICE agents arrested 214 illegal migrants in northern Virginia, targeting transnational organized crime and serious criminal offenders
• High-ranking MS-13 leader Moises Humberto Rivera-Luna was extradited from Guatemala to face racketeering conspiracy charges
• Arrests included three MS-13 gang members, a Jamaican national convicted of second-degree murder, and individuals with sexual crime convictions
• ICE has arrested 32,809 illegal migrants since Trump’s return to the White House, nearly matching fiscal year 2024 arrests under Biden
• Border Patrol apprehensions have plummeted to historic lows, with nationwide apprehensions averaging around 330 per day in February
MS-13 Leadership Taken Down
Trump’s recent line in his speech to Congress turns out to be true: “All we needed was a new president” to turn around illegal aliens border-jumping.
In a major blow to one of America’s most dangerous gangs, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations has successfully extradited high-ranking MS-13 leader Moises Humberto Rivera-Luna from Guatemala to the United States. Rivera-Luna now faces serious charges including racketeering conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon.
The operation represents a significant victory in the ongoing battle against transnational criminal organizations that have flourished under weak border policies. Federal authorities have been working relentlessly to dismantle MS-13’s leadership structure and protect American communities from the gang’s brutal violence.
Even while incarcerated in El Salvador, Rivera-Luna allegedly continued supervising MS-13 operations in the Washington D.C. area. He is accused of ordering the murders of Louis Alberto Membreno-Zelaya and Felipe Enriquez, highlighting the transnational reach of MS-13’s criminal enterprise.
ICE Nabs MS-13 Gangbangers, Jamaican Murderer In Major Deportation Raid https://t.co/zyvF13qoJN
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) March 14, 2025
Massive Arrests Target Criminal Migrants
ICE deportation officers recently conducted a multi-agency operation in northern Virginia that resulted in the arrest of 214 illegal migrants with criminal histories. The operation specifically targeted those connected to transnational organized crime and serious criminal offenders living in gang-infested areas.
“Our communities in Virginia are safer today because our law enforcement officers stood between them and the danger,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Russ Hott said in a prepared statement. “The level of support ICE received from our partner law enforcement organizations was inspiring.”
Among those arrested were three MS-13 gang members and a Jamaican national convicted of second-degree murder. These arrests demonstrate the Trump administration’s commitment to removing dangerous criminals from American streets, a sharp contrast to the previous administration’s approach.
Trump’s Border Success
Since President Trump’s return to the White House, ICE has arrested 32,809 illegal migrants, a figure that nearly matches the entire fiscal year 2024 arrests under the Biden administration. This dramatic increase in enforcement activity comes as Border Patrol encounters have plummeted to historic lows.
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons has accused the Biden administration of inflating arrest numbers by counting “pass-through” arrests where illegal aliens were merely processed and released into American communities. “Comprehensive review was done internally here with ICE and we found tens of thousands of cases that were recorded as arrests, when in fact, these instances were illegal aliens that were simply processed and released into the American communities,” Lyons said.
Border security experts attribute the dramatic decline in illegal crossings to Trump’s executive orders and renewed focus on immigration enforcement. Nationwide Border Patrol apprehensions have dropped to around 330 per day in February, with U.S.-Mexico border apprehensions falling below 300 per day for the first time in years.
