ICE busts several convicted criminals, including child rapist who threatened to kill 11-year-old victim
Sierra Leone national Mohammed Sesay was convicted a decade ago in Maryland of raping an 11-year-old girl multiple times within five months in 2014 and threatening to kill her if she spoke up about the abuse.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Sesay's actions were only revealed after an "assault" during a family function when the father of the victim learned of the incident.
"What these innocent children had to endure is horrifying: a criminal illegal alien raping an 11-year-old child 15 different times; a pedophile; innocent children who were struck and injured by an illegal alien driving drunk, sending one child to intensive care. These criminals should have never been in this country in the first place, and these children should have never been victimized," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, this department is putting the safety of Americans first. Thanks to ICE, these monsters are in custody and will be removed from our communities."
Guatemalan national Pablo Tahay-Par was convicted of unlawfully contacting a minor as a sexual offense in Pennsylvania.
Salvadoran national Alex Ventura was convicted of drunk driving, which resulted in six children being hurt, according to KPRC. The outlet reported that the 2022 crash resulted in a fractured skull to one of the children.
Venezuelan national Jose David Contreras-Sierra also has a long rap sheet in Rockville, Maryland, including "armed robbery, handgun use during a felony, first-degree assault and drug distribution," according to DHS.
In addition, Dominican national Deibe Ramos-Rodriguez was convicted on alien smuggling charges in Texas. Daniel Gutierrez-Leiva of Guatemala was arrested by ICE Baltimore and has a second-degree rape conviction in the Old Line State.
According to the ICE website, Wilbert Rudlof Wiebe-Thiessen was also arrested by ICE Dallas Tuesday. The Mexican citizen, 34, has been charged with "assaulting a family or household member by impeding their breath or circulation and terroristic threats causing fear of imminent serious bodily injury in Texas."
The announcements come as the agency regularly updates its "Worst of the Worst" arrests as it tries to ramp up deportations and hire more ICE agents, including with a new ad campaign and bonuses meant to entice people to join. The recent Trump-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes funding for 10,000 more agents. Besides the arrest highlights, ICE also maintains an active "Most Wanted" list.
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
‘I have nightmares': Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador relive terror after return home
Mervin Yamarte, a young Venezuelan detained for more than four months in the Salvadoran mega-prison known as CECOT after his deportation from the United States, said even though he's now back in his home in Maracaibo, he is still afraid. And he still wakes up every morning at 3:30 a.m. — the same time he was awakened by guards in the maximum security facility. 'I haven't been able to sleep as I should. It's taken me a while to adapt. But I'm happy,' he told the Miami Herald at his home in the neighborhood of Los Pescadores in western Venezuela. Yamarte and three of his friends from that impoverished community – Edwuar Hernández, 23, Andy Perozo, 30, and Ringo Rincón, 39 – were deported to El Salvador on the night of March 15, accused by the U.S. of having links to the dangerous Venezuelan criminal gang Tren De Aragua. It is an accusation that they and their families have vehemently denied. 'I don't go out, because I'm afraid of being singled out' on the streets of his community as a criminal, Yamarte said. In March, the Trump administration sent 252 Venezuelans to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, using a 1798 law known as the Alien Enemies Act. Yamarte, who worked in a tortilla factory while living in Texas, was included in the first group of 238 Venezuelans to arrive at the Salvadoran prison. 'We are not criminals. We are dignified people. I never had problems with the law, neither here nor in the United States,' he told the Herald after his return home to Los Pescadores, where he was greeted with balloons, celebrations, tears and hugs. Yamarte was arrested on March 13 inside his apartment in Dallas along with Hernández, Perozo and Rincón, three childhood friends. Local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers went to the apartment looking for Perozo, who had a deportation order after missing his appointment with an immigration judge after entering through the Mexican border without documentation in 2023. The four men said they were arrested because the agents mistakenly profiled them as members of the violent Tren de Aragua gang because of their tattoos. Other friends and relatives with whom they lived and who did not have tattoos were not arrested, they said. All of them thought that they would face some form of legal process in the U.S., or at worst be deported back to Venezuela. The reality turned out to be worse: On March 15 they were flown to CECOT, the Salvadoran megaprison that has been the subject of international accusations of human-rights abuses. The four men, released and sent home on as part of a deal between the U.S. and the Venezuelan government, said they had suffered physical and psychological torture inside CECOT. Yamarte called it 'hell.' Rincón said the 'terror' has left 'marks' on their bodies and psyches. A softball and soccer player, Yamarte said he is still sore in his shoulders, especially at night, from the times CECOT guards lifted him by both arms while he was handcuffed behind his back. He said lost several toenails after officers stood on his feet while during searches. His ankles still sport dark shadows from tight cuffs. Perozo, who has five children, said he was beaten daily for a week at CECOT and a gun was fired near his left ear during a riot 15 days after his imprisonment. 'Every time they took me to the doctor, they didn't treat me, they beat me,' he told reporters minutes after receiving hugs from his parents. Perozo has not left his neighborhood since he arrived. 'I have nightmares and I can't sleep. I dream that I'm still there,' he said, adding he has as an urgent request for anyone who can help him adapt to life back in Venezuela: 'We need psychological help.' President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has consistently denied that abuses and human rights violations have occurred inside CECOT. Maduro accused Bukele of 'kidnapping and torturing' the group of Venezuelans inside CECOT and called them 'hostages'. The Venezuelan political leader also echoed the claims that many of them received 'beatings' and ate 'rotten food'. Referring to a new investigation about it from Venezuelan justice system, he said: 'There will be justice'. This week, a special report from a group of outlets and journalists that included ProPublica quoted Natalia Molano, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, who said that United States is not responsible for the conditions of the Venezuelans' detention in El Salvador. She added that 'the United States is not involved in the conversation' about abuses inside CECOT denounced by the former prisoners. During the months that the four men from Los Pescadores were imprisoned in El Salvador, friends and family held several protests, traveled to Caracas to meet with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and participated in prayer vigils Their mothers, wives, neighbors and teammates described the four Pescadores men as young workers with no criminal records in Venezuela or the United States, and who decided to emigrate to the U.S. to earn money to send back to their families in Maracaibo. 'I suffered a lot. We were very said,' said Wilfredo Perezo, Andy Perezo's father, crying as he remembers the 127 days of the imprisonment of his son and his friends in CECOT until their arrival home, where the group was received by the national government as heroes. Returning to his family, especially his 6-year-old daughter, his wife Yainelis and his mother Mercedes, has been 'extraordinary,' said Yamarte, who sports tattoos on his arms and one on his hand, the number 99, his favorite, he said, and which he wore on the shirts of his soccer teams every weekend. 'I want to clear my name. I didn't deserve this,' he told the Herald. Yamarte said he still doesn't have a job. He would like to get one that allows to finish the house his family began renovating in Los Pescadores, near his mother's home, thanks to the money he sent from Texas. His mother was the first among the men's parents to recognize one of the four from videos of their transfer to CECOT. In one of the images, Yamarte was seen being shaved and in despair. Mercedes said she screamed with joy on July 18 when she saw on television her son get off the first of two planes that flew from El Salvador with the 252 Venezuelans on board. During her son's time in prison, she said she consoled herself with prayers and playing the song that he dedicated to her a few days before his arrest and deportation, 'Es mi madre' — She's my mother, by Colombian singer Jhonny Rivera: 'She doesn't abandon me. She is the one who suffers if I suffer, she is the one who cries when I cry, she protects me and is my shield.' Ringo Rincón lives a few houses away from the homes of the Yamartes and the Hernández Herreras. He was arrested in the Dallas apartment shortly returning home after finishing his shift making deliveries. He said he was surprised to see so many police officers inside his residence and his friends handcuffed face down in the living room. One of the first questions he was asked was if he had any tattoos. They asked him to remove his shirt and show them. He has several on both arms and on his chest, and a large one of a watch on his left shoulder. Rincón says the biggest scars on his body were left by blows from CECOT guards, whom he says beat him 'without compassion.' 'The abuse came every day,' he said. Rincón smiled when he spoke of his children, being reunited with his mother and his favorite food, chicken and rice, which he has eaten no less than three times since his return home. Yarelis Herrera, mother of Edwuar Hernández Herrera, decorated her home colored balloons and a giant poster with photos of her smiling son when he returned home. That day, he was greeted with lunch and cold beer. Christian music and the song Volver a casa — Returning Home — by Venezuelan singer Cáceres, played in the background. Edwuar Herrera, the youngest of the men from Los Pescadores deported to CECOT, described his days back in his hometown as calming and happy. He said that, like his friends who were imprisoned with him, he is 'trying to clear' his mind of what happened in El Salvador, playing sports, spending time with family and watching movies. 'Being able to have time again with my daughter and my mother is priceless,' he said. He tries to 'not to think about it so much,' he said about his time in the Salvadoran prison, although he hopes that the U.S. justice system will 'cleanse' the reputations of the 252 Venezuelans send to CECOT. He said he never had access to a judge or a lawyer, either in the U.S or El Salvador. He added he was beaten badly by the prison guards and was hit by four rubber bullets during a riot. The U.S. government, he said, 'threw us out as alleged terrorists. We don't deserve any of that.'
NBC News
an hour ago
- NBC News
ICE efforts to poach local officers are angering some local law enforcement leaders
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is newly flush with billions from the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' spending legislation and under pressure to rapidly hire 10,000 new agents. But one tactic it recently tried to do that hiring — aggressively recruiting new agents from some of its most trusted local law enforcement partners — may have alienated some of the leaders it needs to help execute what the Trump administration wants to be the largest mass deportation in US history. 'We're their force multipliers, and this is the thanks we get for helping them do their job?' Polk County, Florida Sheriff Grady Judd said in an interview with NBC News. Judd said he's not happy about a recruitment email sent by ICE's deputy director to hundreds of his deputies and he blamed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE. 'Kristi Noem needs to get on her big girl pants and do what's right. She needs to make sure that there's an apology,' said Judd, who also made clear that he wants to 'support President [Donald] Trump's mission.' NBC News spoke to local law enforcement leaders in four states whose agencies participate in 287(g) and whose deputies were being targeted for ICE recruitment. The recruitment email those agencies' officers received, sent earlier this week, appears to have targeted law enforcement officers whose agencies participate in ICE's 287(g) program, under which local officers are deputized to help in immigration enforcement. The email from Sheahan, which NBC News has obtained, reads in part, 'As someone who is currently supporting ICE through the 287(g) program, you understand the unique responsibility we carry in protecting our communities and upholding federal law. Your experience in state or local law enforcement brings invaluable insight and skills to this mission —qualities we need now more than ever.' The email also touts potential $50,000 signing bonuses as an incentive for joining ICE and links to a government recruitment website featuring an image of Uncle Sam, the headline 'AMERICA NEEDS YOU,' and the possibility of up to $60,000 in student loan repayment beyond those signing bonuses. 'ICE actively trying to use our partnership to recruit our personnel is wrong and we have expressed our concern to ICE leadership,' the Pinellas County, Florida Sheriff's Office said in a statement to NBC News. The sheriff in Pinellas County is a Republican, as is Polk County's Judd. 'It was bad judgement that will cause an erosion of a relationship that has been improving of late. And it's going to take some getting over and it's gonna take leadership at DHS to really take stock cause hey, they need state and locals,' Jonathan Thompson, the executive director and CEO of the National Sheriffs' Association, said in an interview with NBC News. Thompson said that the association has heard from more than a dozen law enforcement agencies about the recruitment emails. He also said that the group has not heard from DHS since the emails were flagged to the association, and that he intends to send a 'very stern note' to ICE. 'This is inappropriate behavior of a partner organization,' Thompson said. 'We're all on the same boat. And you just don't treat friends or partners like this.' One Florida chief of police who did not want to be named out of concern his department could face retaliation said departments that have partnered with the federal government now fear they could lose their best officers. 'Now you know why everybody's so pissed,' the chief said. 'This is like the transfer portal in college sports,' the chief said, adding, 'We see people leave us because they believe they can make more money at other locations… Law enforcement has always been a calling. Now it's a job.' The DHS press office did not respond to questions about local law enforcement concerns but provided NBC News with a statement that it attributed to a senior DHS official: 'ICE is recruiting law enforcement, veterans, and other patriots who want to serve their country … This includes local law enforcement, veterans, and our 287(g) partners who have already been trained and have valuable law enforcement experience. Additionally, more than $500 million from President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill will go to increasing our 287(g) partnerships with state and local law enforcement.' The sheriff's office in Forsyth County, Georgia told NBC News that the Atlanta ICE office 'sent an apology' for the recruitment email. Not all sheriffs are upset with the recruitment effort. In fact some say they support it. Thaddeus Cleveland, the sheriff of Terrell County, Texas, said, 'I think if someone wants to better their life, better their career, you know, look towards the long years, the long game, retirement, there's nothing better than the US government to go out and have a successful career.' Cleveland, who has just four deputies on his staff, admits he can't compete with the $50,000 bonuses that the agency is offering. 'We may not be able to turn around and hire somebody the next day. It may take a few weeks. It may take a few months. But again, I support, you know, someone wanting to pursue something they're interested in. I may end up having to work a little more, which is okay.' Goliad County Texas Sheriff Roy Boyd also said he's not upset about the recruitment, and noted that his office also has to deal with the state recruiting new troopers from his department. 'We can't compete with the salaries of the state and the feds,' he said.
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
Locked up by ICE, Haitian businessman, ex-presidential aspirant to remain in detention
A prominent Haitian businessman and one-time presidential aspirant accused of collaborating with armed gangs in Haiti will have to remain in U.S. immigration lock-up for now. Pierre Reginald Boulos, who appeared in immigration court on Thursday, will have to return to court next month after a judge at the Krome North Service Processing Center decided he could not be released. 'The immigration judge found that Dr. Boulos was subject to mandatory detention at this point in the proceeding, pursuant to a rarely cited regulation,' said his lawyer, Atara Eig, who is representing him alongside other attorneys at the law firm of Candela, Eig & Jurgens. 'We have reserved appeal on this issue and will be filing a notice of appeal in the next 30 days.' Eig said the upcoming hearing, slated for Aug. 26, is to address procedural issues. Boulos, a lawful permanent resident who was born in New York but renounced his U.S. citizenship several years ago, was arrested on July 17 in Palm Beach County on an immigration violation charge and is being held at the Krome detention center. Lawyers said that while no issues of substance were addressed Thursday, they plan to appeal an earlier decision to deny him bond. A physician by training who considered a run for the Haitian presidency, Boulos appeared in the courtroom shortly after 8 a.m. Thursday dressed in orange. As his hearing started, he was joined by his children and other members of his family, some of whom were in the courtroom and others online. After Eig raised safety concerns, Judge Jorge Pereira closed the hearing to people following online. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is accusing Boulos of violating the Immigration and Nationality Act after failing to disclose his involvement in the formation of a political party in Haiti, Mouvement pour la Transformation et la Valorisation d'Haiti, when he applied for permanent residency in the U.S. In social media posts and a release after his arrest, they agency also accused him of 'contributing to the destabilization of Haiti' by engaging in violence and collaborating with armed gangs. In a statement to the Miami Herald, family members said they and Boulos are committed to dealing with the allegations through the appropriate channels and look forward to presenting a full account of the facts. 'Our father is a devoted dad and grandfather who continuously shows up for those he loves. We stand firmly by his side and trust that the truth will prevail,' the family said. Boulos returned to the U.S. in 2021, the statement said, 'after decades of service in Haiti as a public health physician, humanitarian and entrepreneur,' overseeing vaccination and maternal-care initiatives in partnership with well-known international organizations and later founded various businesses that collectively created more than 3,000 jobs. Among those businesses is a car dealership that the family previously said was burned down by the very armed gangs, the Viv Ansanm coalition, U.S. officials are accusing Boulos of collaborating with. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated the gang coalition as a foreign and global terrorist organization. 'Beyond the personal impact, this case raises broader concerns about humanitarian risk,' the family's statement added. 'Deportation to Haiti under current conditions presents serious and well-documented personal safety threats.' Boulos is the most high-profile Haitian to be detained by the Trump administration, which in recent months has tried to cut back deportation protections and work permits for over a half million Haitians temporarily in the United States. At the same time, the State Department is trying to show that it is serious about punishing those believed to be financing gangs in Haiti that have forced more than 1.3 million Haitians from their homes, killed thousands and left nearly 6 million Haitians struggling to find food. As Boulos' hearing unfolded inside Krome, about 15 protesters gathered in front of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. courthouse at 400 N. Miami Avenue in downtown Miami. Believing his hearing was being held at the federal courthouse, the protesters were hoping to get a glimpse of the businessman as they held placards demanding Boulos be kept in prison here and not deported back to Haiti, where they said he would be freed.
