Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation officers recently nabbed one of their most wanted fugitives — a convicted child sex offender — in a targeted operation in central Louisiana.
The agency shared the news in a press release last week — but many Americans didn’t see this news from the mainstream media, or won’t.
“This case is an excellent example of ICE’s ongoing focus to prioritize its enforcement efforts toward unlawfully present foreign nationals who pose the greatest threat to public safety,” said Trey Lund, acting director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations’ (ERO) New Orleans field office, in a statement.
“Despite attempts by some to confuse the public, ICE does not conduct random or indiscriminate enforcement, and the agency’s targeted enforcement efforts make communities safer for all persons, whatever their immigration status may be, by removing dangerous criminals from the streets.”
Jose Melchor Martinez, who is also known as Jose Luis Martinez-Sanchez (pictured above left), is an unlawfully present Mexican national who had been convicted of multiple crimes in the United States.
He had also been deported to Mexico in the past.
Martinez was arrested last Wednesday by an ERO special response team in New Orleans. The group was executing a federal arrest warrant at a residence in Church Point, Louisiana, ICE said in its release.
After he was convicted of a felony charge of taking indecent liberties with a child in North Carolina in 2002, Martinez had been removed to Mexico in 2003.
But he proceeded to re-enter the country illegally and was convicted of driving under the influence in Louisiana’s Acadia Parish in April.
Related: Suspected Illegal Immigrant, Driving Drunk, Crashes in S.C. with Four Kids in the Car
Martinez is in the U.S. Marshals Service’s custody and is awaiting federal felony prosecution.
With the midterm elections just two weeks away, some Democratic candidates have chosen to run on a platform promoting the abolishment of ICE — the very organization responsible for tracking down and locking up child predators and repeat offenders such as Martinez.
Polarizing liberal politicians, including both incumbents and upstarts, have taken up the “Abolish ICE” banner. These include Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) and congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (a self-described Democratic socialist) of New York, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts (D), and Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) of Texas.
President Donald Trump, however — along with most Republican candidates — has long been outspoken in support of ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and other governmental authorities charged with keeping our country’s citizens safe from those who would do us harm.
On Tuesday afternoon, a DHS spokesperson put out this tweet: “. can confirm that there are individuals within the caravan who are gang members or have significant criminal histories.”
And see the tweets below for more information on this critical issue.
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Michele Blood is a Flemington, New Jersey-based freelance writer and a regular contributor to LifeZette.
