Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a slew of illegal immigrants in Minneapolis Tuesday, including several convicted of sexual assault and drug trafficking.
The arrests were part of Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s effort to arrest illegal aliens in the Twin Cities, which began in December. Among those arrested Tuesday were Teng Houa Vang, a Vietnamese national with a domestic assault conviction — as well as guilty pleas for terror threats and breaking a “protection order,” The Daily Wire has learned. He is also facing charges for “arson, peeping tom, obstructing police, trespassing, assault, drug possession, and property damage.”
Mugshot of Teng Houa Vang (Department of Homeland Security)
“Another day another scourge of sexual predators, violent assailants, domestic abusers and drug traffickers arrested from the streets of Minnesota by our law enforcement,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Wednesday.
“We are in Minnesota to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Governor Walz and Mayor Frey refuse to let us into their jails and instead choose to release criminal illegal aliens back into Minnesota neighborhoods to victimize more Americans. Despite violence against them and a lack of cooperation from sanctuary politicians, our law enforcement will not stop their efforts to get criminals out of [the] country,” she continued.
Salvadoran national Francisco Salazar-Solorzano was arrested on DUI, domestic violence, and assault charges. Mexican national Victor Javier Bahena-Sandoval has previous arrests for domestic violence, in addition to past convictions for “disorderly conduct” and for coming back into the country illegally. Mexican national Santiago Antunes Mendiola faces charges for battery.
Spanish national Lorenzo Armillas Llaurado has a prior conviction for “felony distribution of a controlled substance.” Nigerian national Michael Opeoluwa Egbele has a prior conviction for impersonation fraud.
Mugshot of Michael Opeoluwa Egbele (Department of Homeland Security)
Operation Metro Surge has triggered protests and backlash from Democratic leaders, especially following the confrontation in which Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer. She reportedly hit him with her vehicle in Minneapolis, as DHS says the agent involved suffered internal bleeding afterward.
“Get the f**k out of Minneapolis,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said at a press conference last week following the Good incident.
“We do not want you here. Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite,” he continued, saying, “people are being hurt.”
The Daily Wire reached out to both Walz and the City of Minneapolis for comment, but they were not immediately available for a response. As of December 19, there have been 622,000 deportations since President Donald Trump took office, along with an estimated 1.9 million people who opted to self-deport, as the federal government is offering incentives to do so.
.png)
.png)
