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EXCLUSIVE: In 2025, more than 17,500 undocumented immigrants were arrested for crimes requiring mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act, the first presidential law. Donald Trump signed him for a second term.
The act is named after Laken Riley, a Georgia college student allegedly murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant and member of the terrorist gang Tren de Aragua, who had previously been arrested and released before her death.
The law requires it illegal immigrants arrested – but not necessarily yet convicted – must be detained and processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for several specific crimes.
Yasser Garcia Ramirez (inset left) and Santos Chim-Diego (inset right) in front of a Department of Homeland Security operation. (Carleen Steele/Getty Images; DHS; DHS)
Classified crimes include theft, driving while intoxicated or impaired, and violent crimes including murder, rape, sexual assault, assault on police and firearms violations.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem also announced Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has concluded:Operation Angel's Honor“, a two-week nationwide effort launched in Riley's honor to vigorously prosecute violators of the Laken Riley Law.
This operation alone brought in on average dozens of illegal criminals every day.
“In honor of Laken Riley, ICE launched Operation Honor an Angel, arresting more than 1,000 criminal illegal aliens under Laken Riley's Law in the last two weeks alone,” Noem told Fox News Digital.
Noem expressed gratitude to Trump for giving her agency the authority to pursue millions of criminal illegal immigrants living in the United States, including those who were “released” into the interior by previous administrations.
“We will never be able to bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice,” Noem said.
Laken Riley's Law violators caught in Operation Angel's Honor include Sergio Luis Hernandez Gonzalez from Cuba, found guilty of 17 counts of theft, two counts of sale of cocaine, as well as vehicle theft and other offenses.
Jersson Andrei Poveda Delgado of Colombia was found guilty of assaulting a police officer, and Dominican Republic national Yaser García Ramirez faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin, domestic violence and obstruction of law enforcement.
Another illegal immigrant, Santos Chim Diego from Guatemala, was found guilty of resisting and assaulting a police officer. Drunk driving and child abuse.
An Iraqi national named Hamid Abdulimam Al Nassar was captured in Operation Angel's Honor after he was found guilty of pimping an underage prostitute, several drug offenses, fraud, embezzlement and aggravated assault.
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Another illegal criminal Nathaniel Sterling from Jamaicawas detained after being convicted of carnal violence, weapons possession and disorderly conduct.
The recent arrest of Mexican national Omar Barojas-Arenas was also subject to the Laken Riley Act after he was found guilty of kidnapping, and Jorby Joel Escuraina-Suarez of Venezuela was found guilty of aggravated assault with a weapon.
While the Department of Homeland Security has called implementation of the Laken Riley Act a success, some critics have said the law requires a deportation process for people who may not pose a security threat – with some pointing out that the law uses arrest in lieu of conviction as a pretext for the feds to take a subject into custody.
“This bill does nothing to improve security or fix our broken immigration system,” said Naina Gupta, policy director for the American Immigration Council.
“Under the guise of preventing violence, the bill would require immigration officials to indefinitely detain and deport noncitizens who do not pose a threat to public safety without access to basic due process,” she said in a statement after the legislation passed.
“The bill also gives state attorneys general unprecedented power over immigration policy. The bill deprives people of their basic rights and turns the way the US government enforces immigration laws on its head,” Gupta concluded.
