ICE deports 242 criminal aliens and immigration violators from Houston

HOUSTON - The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office here yesterday deported 242 criminal aliens and immigration violators who had received final orders of deportation from federal immigration judges.

Early in the morning, ICE buses transported the aliens from their detention facilities to Bush International Airport, where they were flown to their countries of origin. The group included 74 Honduran nationals and 36 Guatemalan nationals with violent criminal records and immigration violations. They flew in government aircraft via the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS), which is operated by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Later that afternoon, ICE officers bused another 132 Mexican nationals to the southern border, escorted them across the international bridge, and turned them over to Mexican authorities.

Many of the Central Americans and Mexican nationals deported yesterday had criminal histories that included: murder, drug possession, aggravated assault, larceny, burglary, sexual assault of a minor, gang activity, and armed robbery. Many violent criminals from Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico had been transferred to ICE custody after they served prison terms in state or federal facilities. Others had been apprehended by ICE National Fugitive Operations Program officers (NFOP). Some of the deportees were non-criminal aliens who had ignored an immigration judge's final orders of deportation.