Ten of the most violent illegal immigrants operating in the United States were finally taken off the streets in 2025, as federal agents arrested accused murderers, gang enforcers, and repeat predators — including a habitual child sex offender and a criminal accused of carrying out a gruesome beheading. The arrests, highlighted by ICE as among the year’s most dangerous cases, came amid an aggressive border and interior-enforcement push under President Donald Trump that officials say sharply reduced illegal crossings and prioritized deporting criminal aliens before they could strike again.
ICE leadership publicly described the group as the “worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” — violent offenders removed from neighborhoods for the safety of all Americans. ICE and Department of Homeland Security officials have underscored that these arrests reflect a larger shift in federal policy.
After years of criticisms that violent illegal immigrants were being released or overlooked, 2025 enforcement has focused on catching and deporting those with violent records — a mandate aligned with Trump’s rhetoric and the Laken Riley Act.
🚨 BREAKING:
-2.5 million illegal immigrants have left America under President Donald Trump, 605,000 ICE deportations
-1.9 million of them self-deported.
Deport Bangladeshi & Pakistani Muslims in India.#YogiDownsSyrupMafia Bangladesh #USA Pakistan #US Yunus #Islam Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/EYcfY77gd1
— Bhāratavarṣam (@OriginsOfIndia) December 22, 2025
In Dallas, ICE arrested Cuban illegal immigrant Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, a suspect authorities say carried out one of the most gruesome murders of the year. Federal officials say Cobos-Martinez has a lengthy criminal history that includes child sex abuse, grand theft auto, false imprisonment, and carjacking. He was taken into custody after Dallas police accused him of using a machete to behead a merchant during an argument — a killing that allegedly occurred in front of the victim’s spouse and child. Investigators say Cobos-Martinez then kicked the severed head “around like a soccer ball,
In Plano, Texas, ICE lodged a detainer against Mexican illegal immigrant Sergio Noe de Nova Duarte after police accused him of a brutal hammer attack on a woman jogging in a public park. Authorities say Duarte struck the victim and attempted to kidnap her, leading to charges of aggravated kidnapping and bodily injury. Court records show he had prior arrests for burglary and larceny in 2024 and had previously been taken into ICE custody — only to be released under the Joe Biden administration. Duarte entered the United States on a tourist visa in 2016 and never left, remaining in the country illegally while awaiting an immigration hearing scheduled for 2026.
Juan Perez-Tello (Mexico) was arrested after previously being convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old in Santa Barbara, California. Julio Miguel Gonzalez (Cuba) was convicted of homicide-willful kill in Miami. Jose Barrera-Bolanos (Mexico) was arrested with a conviction for sexual assault of a child in Denver.
Gustavo Benitez-Barrueta (Mexico) was arrested in Texas with a conviction for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute/sell in Austin. Jamie Escobar-Mirales (Mexico) is a 37-year-old illegal alien arrested on Dec. 18 whose history includes two counts of rape of a child.
🚨 JD VANCE: “We do NOT ask permission from far-left Democrats before we deport illegal immigrants…"
"…we do the American people’s BUSINESS.” 🔥🔥🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/9mMhY7HABT
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 29, 2025
Javier Diaz-Cabrera (Mexico) was arrested on Dec. 18 with a criminal history including illegal sexual contact with a victim under age 13 and sexual assault with a minor by a guardian. Evelyn Martinez-Rodriguez (Honduras) is a 36-year-old illegal immigrant with arrests for assault-torture/willful child abuse, domestic violence, and other offenses.
Fredy Garcia-Canan (Guatemala) was arrested Dec. 19 with a removal order from 2024 and a criminal history including intentional bodily harm with a deadly weapon and aggravated endangering to a child. Mohamed Sabry Soliman was arrested for a Colorado Molotov cocktail terror attack. Soliman, an Egyptian national, was arrested on federal charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and a hate crime after allegedly setting fire to people at a pro-Israel event in Boulder.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin believes the mainstream media of “whitewashing” facts about the arrests of illegal immigrants with violent criminal histories and portraying them as victims. “As the media whitewashes the facts, day in and day out, our brave men and women of ICE risk their lives for the American people,” McLaughlin said, according to a Fox News report.
Under the Laken Riley Act — signed by Donald Trump in January 2025 — illegal immigrants charged with serious offenses face mandatory detention and expedited removal, a measure named after a Georgia college student murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2024. Federal authorities also reported that more than 17,500 illegal immigrants were arrested under that law in 2025, a sign of how seriously public safety has been prioritized.
The impact of strict border and interior enforcement on illegal immigration was also evident in reduced crossings by illegal immigrants reported during 2025, as well as swelling numbers of deportations. Homeland Security has said that millions of illegal immigrants have left the United States this year, and hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants have been removed since Trump took office.
Supporters say the crackdown on illegal immigrants has saved lives and prevented further tragedies. Angel Moms and advocacy groups have publicly thanked Trump’s administration and ICE for focusing on violent criminal illegal immigrants and for prioritizing enforcement over catch-and-release policies that critics have blamed for past tragedies. Families argue that, for too long, previous policies allowed violent offenders to slip through the cracks only to reoffend.
Critics, while acknowledging the importance of tackling violent crime, argue that enforcement of illegal immigrants policies must still respect due process and not equate nationality with criminality. Supporters counter that even a small number of heinous offenders can cause irreversible harm — and that proactive enforcement saves lives and restores public confidence.
As the 10 illegal immigrants face prosecution and deportation proceedings, ICE agents and Trump officials say enforcement will continue to be robust and unapologetic, keeping violent illegal immigrants off the streets.
