WASHINGTON — More than 20,000 illegal migrants charged or convicted of crimes have been detained by the Trump administration since the Laken Riley Act was signed into law a year ago, according to officials.
The bill — named after the Georgia nursing student murdered by an illegal Venezuelan migrant and gangbanger — was the first piece of legislation that President Trump signed into law after returning to the White House.
The Department of Homeland Security announced on the anniversary of its enactment Thursday that over 21,400 illegal migrants had been taken off the streets by the feds in accordance with the act.
The bill vastly expanded immigration detention, mandating that DHS detain illegal migrants accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and other violent crimes.
Previously, the feds were only required to detain migrants who were accused of specific serious crimes.
One of the heinous criminal migrants nabbed within the first year of the Laken Riley Act includes Cuban national Sergio Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, who was convicted on two dozen charges of larceny, burglary, robbery, distributing cocaine, resisting an officer, vehicle theft, and fraud.
Other criminal migrants — from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala, Colombia, Venezuela, Iraq and India — were detained with convictions for child endangerment, aggravated assault with a weapon, selling heroin, rape and homicide, according to DHS officials.
Riley’s killer, Tren de Aragua gangbanger Jose Ibarra, snuck across the border in September 2022, two years before he smashed in the 22-year-old’s head with a rock and asphyxiated her.
But a year before the horrific murder, Ibarra was arrested in New York City for riding a moped with a 5-year-old on his back without a helmet or seatbelt.
Ibarra slaughtered Riley while she was out for a jog on the University of Georgia’s campus on Feb. 22, 2024, after trying to rape her.
He was convicted and sentenced to life without parole last year.
“Thank you, President Trump, for signing the Laken Riley Act,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens unleashed on the United States by the previous administration,” Noem added.
“Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country.”
The DHS chief vowed to “do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice.”
“I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets,” Noem said.
The Laken Riley Act passed both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support, but lawmakers have recently raised concerns over the execution of the Trump administration’s mass deportations, particularly in cities where federal agents have faced fierce opposition and protests.
The fatal shootings of two Minneapolis residents — Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti — by DHS agents have also catalyzed public opposition to the removals and prompted the president to dispatch border czar Tom Homan to ease tensions.
Among the other criminal migrants caught by DHS were:
- Mexican nationals Antonio Quintana-Rodriguez, who was convicted of rape and illegal entry; Omar Barojas-Arenas, who was convicted of kidnapping and drug possession; and Luz Brisseida Ramirez-Leal, who was convicted of cruelty towards a child.
- Jamaican national Nathaniel Antoney Sterling, who was convicted of sexual assault and later charged with resisting an officer, domestic abuse, possession of a weapon, and disorderly conduct.
- Indian migrant Varun Datta, who was convicted on four counts of sexual assault, resisting an officer, and driving under the influence of liquor. Datta was also charged with battery, shoplifting and trespassing.
- Colombian man Jersson Andrey Poveda Delgado, who was convicted of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and charged with battery.
- Dominican Republic national Yaser Garcia Ramirez, who was convicted of carjacking, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute heroin, trespassing, and criminal possession of a loaded gun. Ramirez was additionally charged with obstructing law enforcement, domestic violence and assault.
- Venezuelan Jorby Joel Escuraina-Suarez, who was convicted of aggravated assault with a weapon.
- Guatemalan national Santos Chim-Diego, who was convicted of resisting an officer, aggravated assault on an officer, and driving under the influence of liquor. Chim-Diego was charged with cruelty toward a child, assault, domestic violence, and battery.
- Hamid Abdulimam Al Nassar, who was convicted of procuring for a minor for prostitution, possession of narcotics equipment, drug possession and larceny. The Iraqi national was also charged with fraud, embezzlement and aggravated assault with a weapon.
