Two violent criminals, both migrants with troubling records, were among the hundreds deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Thanksgiving week. One was a murder suspect from Honduras; the other, an attempted murder suspect from Ecuador. These cases highlight the ongoing dangers posed by the Biden-Harris administration’s reckless border policies, which have turned the southern border into a sieve, leaving Americans to clean up the mess.
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) team in Chicago deported Edwin Fernando Figueroa-Martinez back to Honduras, where he faces charges for murder. Figueroa-Martinez had been living unlawfully in Lyons, Illinois, until ICE arrested him in August. After being removed on Monday, Honduran authorities took him into custody to face justice. On Tuesday, ICE ERO officers in Philadelphia removed Jonathan Javier Arequipa Montesdeoca, an Ecuadorian national wanted for attempted murder. Arequipa had entered the U.S. illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, in 2023. Despite his criminal record, he was initially released to pursue an asylum claim—because nothing says secure borders like letting a violent criminal roam free on a promise.
Arequipa’s subsequent arrest for assault in New Jersey brought him back into ICE custody, where further investigation revealed his outstanding attempted murder charges in Ecuador. Thankfully, he’s now out of the country, but his story underscores the glaring flaws in the Biden administration’s border policies. According to a source within Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents are often unable to access foreign criminal databases, leaving dangerous gaps in the vetting process. This lack of accountability enables criminals to slip through the cracks.
The deportations were part of a broader ICE operation over the holiday week, with hundreds of migrants returned to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Since June, ICE reports that more than 160,000 individuals have been removed under certain asylum restrictions, but it’s clear the administration’s half-hearted efforts aren’t enough to undo the damage caused by their policies.
Under President Trump, there’s no doubt that the border crisis would be addressed with the seriousness it deserves. Trump’s commitment to securing the border has always prioritized protecting Americans, not appeasing open-border radicals. Biden’s border blunders, on the other hand, have made the U.S. a playground for criminals and cartels, leaving communities across the country vulnerable.
The Democrats’ feigned compassion for “migrants” has turned into an embarrassing parade of negligence. They have turned a blind eye to the violence and chaos their policies have unleashed, all while virtue-signaling about “human rights.” The real question is, when will they start caring about the rights of Americans to live safely in their own country?
