A forceful roundup by ICE over Easter exposed a wave of criminal illegal aliens, and the administration moved quickly to keep enforcement funded and active.

Democrats tried to hamstring homeland security by targeting DHS funding, but agents kept working and were paid after a presidential directive cited national security. That memo ensured ICE and Border Patrol personnel, at least, stayed on the job while lawmakers sparred in Washington. The result: enforcement continued even as political theater unfolded.

The funding fight didn’t slow the deportation agenda — it only shifted the dynamics. Congressional maneuvering set up stable funding through reconciliation, and ICE is funded through 2029. In practice, that money means more resources for arrests and removals under the current leadership.

As liberal lawmakers played games, agents executed operations that swept up many noncitizens with serious criminal records. The arrests included people accused or convicted of violent crimes, sexual offenses, and major drug conspiracies. The list below reflects the types of cases ICE says it targeted during the Easter enforcement push.

• Wilson Zuniga-Ayala, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, with 11 convictions for crimes including burglary and larceny.
• Rodolfo Lorenzo-Castro, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, convicted for manslaughter with a weapon in Tampa, Florida.
• Reinier Fuentes-Armentero, a criminal illegal alien from Cuba, convicted for FOUR counts of possessing, controlling or intentionally viewing sexual performance by a child in Palm Beach, Florida.
• Victor Asuncion, a criminal illegal alien from the Philippines, convicted for forcible lewd act upon a child in the California Superior Court of Contra Costa, Martinez, California.
• Arturo Barrios-Medina, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for possession of child pornography and selling/renting/loaning/giving obscene material to a minor in Hendry County, Texas.
• Zenawi Amisalu Asnakew, a criminal illegal alien from Ethiopia, convicted for sexual battery in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
• Marco Antonio Sanchez Alvarez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for first-degree assault, domestic violence and drug trafficking in Yakima, Washington.
• Marco Sanchez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, convicted for criminal sexual act in Riverhead, New York.
• Iurii Mamukayevich Sopromadze, a criminal illegal alien from Russia, convicted for petty theft, terrorist threats and stalking in Los Angeles, California.
• Mario Antonio Alvarado-Calate, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, convicted for assault with bodily injury in Harris County, Texas
• Adilson Antonio Reyes-Arriola, a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, convicted for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture containing a detectable amount of cocaine in the Unites States District Court, District of Rhode Island.

Send them back. In the DC area alone, ICE arrests surged past 20,000 (via WaPo).

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents made nearly 20,000 arrests in D.C., Maryland and Virginia from the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second administration last year through March 10, according to a Washington Post analysis of recent federal data.

By comparison, in the last full year of President Joe Biden’s administration, ICE recorded nearly 3,800 arrests in the region.

After a dramatic spike in immigration enforcement in D.C. last year, ICE arrests in the nation’s capital have fallen sharply since December, federal data shows. But the rate has remained relatively steady in Maryland and Virginia, where elected leaders and immigrant advocates say they are not seeing any indication that enforcement efforts are lessening.

Happy hunting, fellas. The renewed emphasis on locking up those who threaten communities is exactly what voters demanded at the ballot box. Enforcement teams are back on the streets executing long-planned operations and targeting repeat offenders.

“Even on the Holy day of Easter, ICE does not take a day off. While Americans celebrated Easter with their families, ICE officers were risking their lives to arrest the worst of the worst,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. “Some of the Easter weekend arrests included murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers. Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS is committed to protecting our homeland and will not stop getting criminals out of communities.”

Amen. This is law enforcement doing its job and a reminder that secure borders and public safety go hand in hand. When leadership prioritizes removal of dangerous noncitizens, communities see the difference in real time.