HOUSTON, Texas — Daring officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Houston made two significant arrests last week, bringing in a fugitive with a long rap sheet who had been deported three times and an alleged murderer.
The Post was there to witness as ICE fugitive operations officers made a pre-dawn raid in the Houston area, bringing Mexican national Rosvelt Arturo Sanchez Sanchez in.
Early Wednesday the ICE officers arrested the three-times deported Mexican national, 39, at a residence in Houston.
Sanchez has an extensive criminal history with convictions of disorderly conduct, cocaine possession, driving under the influence and assault of a member of his family.
“He had a pretty egregious criminality,” John Linscott, who oversees ICE’s fugitive operations in Houston, told The Post.
The arrest took place at his dilapidated home in a low income neighborhood, where Sanchez had been hiding out with his wife and young child — who could be heard crying out for his father throughout the arrest.
He was exiting his car when ICE officers, who identified themselves, notified him of a warrant for his arrest and swiftly took him into custody.
Sanchez seemed to be accepting of his fate and didn’t put up a fight with the officers.
After placing Sanchez in handcuffs and into one of their vehicles, the ICE officers drove a few blocks away to better restrain him without creating a scene in front of his family and neighbors.
Just days before on June 3, officers descended on another Houston property to capture Honduran national Jose Ulloa-Martinez, 42.
Ulloa-Martinez was on the run for allegedly killing 23-year-old Kevin Merlos-Saravia in North Carolina just days before.
Ulloa-Martinez had entered the US illegally by sneaking past authorities at an unknown time and place.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina alerted ICE to Ulloa-Martinez being on the run and he was later pinpointed to being at his brother’s house in Houston.
Linscott said Ulloa-Martinez was attempting to flee when his officers descended to make the arrest.
“He had a backpack on, he had clothes, bottled water, a blanket. He was getting ready to go,” Linscott said.
“It looked like he was getting ready to flee out of Houston,”
Like Ulloa-Martinez, more than 1.7 million migrant ‘gotaways’ are known to have entered the country by sneaking across the border since President Biden entered office.
While the latest arrests are a success for the agency, Linscott says ICE is stretched thin as illegal immigration continues at record highs and as resources are few, forcing officers to prioritize arresting the worst of the worst.
“ICE is not resourced … We need resources to enforce mandates. So I think the big thing is just us being underfunded.”
The Biden administration implemented new last-minute measures to address the continued flow of illegal crossings at the southern border.
The new restrictions, which took effect last Wednesday, prevent many migrants from filing asylum cases after crossing the southern border illegally.
The restrictions are meant to deter people from coming to the border and will not be lifted until after the number of illegal crossings drops below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.
Although the executive order says asylum applications are halted, NBC reported migrants will still be screened by asylum officers “but under a higher standard than what’s currently in place.”
If the migrants pass that threshold, they will still be allowed into the US to pursue “other forms of humanitarian protection,” according to the outlet.
The restrictions also do not apply to unaccompanied children, people with acute medical conditions or those “fleeing imminent harm.”
It has also emerged the rules are not being applied the same to migrants from more than 100 countries if they are caught crossing into the San Diego region illegally, according to an internal Border Patrol memo seen by The Post.
