Miami, Florida

Immigrants and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were after individuals they knew well—specifically, Mexicans who had previously faced serious charges for assaulting pregnant women and had been deported earlier this year. Remarkably, one of them managed to slip through the cracks and re-enter the country.

He found his way back to Florida. Blaze News was part of the team tasked with his arrest; the team was mobilized to bring federal charges against him for allegedly re-entering illegally after his deportation. The agents had all gathered for a morning briefing before dawn and positioned themselves near his home, anticipating he would be picked up for work in a white pickup truck.

The lead agent suspected that he might attempt to show them a counterfeit green card, which would be a felony. As the team monitored his residence, they noted he typically left the house between 6:15 and 6:50 a.m.

Just before 6:50 a.m., they confirmed he was the target and effectively blocked the road. He was arrested without incident.

Inside the truck were two other men: one from Mexico and the other from the Dominican Republic. The Mexicans swiftly admitted they were unlawfully in the U.S. and were taken into custody. In contrast, the Dominican asserted that he possessed a permanent resident card, or Green Card, but didn’t have it on him.

In an interesting turn, the Dominican offered to take the agents to his residence to show them the card, which he claimed was in his passport. The agents agreed and accompanied him inside. However, once they retrieved the card, it was quickly deemed to be fake, leading to his arrest as well.

At Miramar’s processing center, the Dominican was revealed not only to be in the U.S. illegally but also to have a troubled criminal history. After fingerprinting, it was uncovered that he had been arrested in 1999 for aggravated assault. He received a one-year prison sentence and was later incarcerated again in 2001 for first-degree arson and harassment. Following his release, he was put under three years of supervision.

Eventually, an immigration judge ordered him to leave the United States on February 3, 2003, and he was deported to the Dominican Republic two days later.

The target and the Dominican man have since been referred to the Department of Justice for federal charges. Meanwhile, ICE agents have faced increased scrutiny in other areas of the country while conducting their operations. Some local police departments have been restricted from collaborating with them. This has led agents at the Miami Field Office to evaluate how their mission is supported in Florida. Notably, the Miami ICE office typically averages around 120 arrests daily, a figure that does not include apprehensions made by the U.S. Border Patrol or Homeland Security Investigations.