ICE Enters 2026 With Increased Manpower, Arrests More ‘Worst Of The Worst’ Illegal Immigrants

The latest batch of illegal aliens arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) includes a man convicted of sexually assaulting a child and another convicted of human trafficking, the Department of Homeland Security told The Daily Wire. 

The “worst of the worst” arrests on Tuesday come as ICE enters 2026 with a 120% increase in manpower and looks to increase arrests and deportation numbers. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told The Daily Wire that the increase in manpower meant that ICE was ready “to arrest even more criminal illegal aliens and get them OUT of our country.”  

“Another day, another round of pedophiles, violent thugs, and human traffickers removed from American communities,” McLaughlin said.  “Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is targeting removing the WORST OF THE WORST criminal illegal aliens terrorizing American families. 

According to DHS, those arrested Tuesday included: 

• Hiram Urgell-Pardo, an illegal alien from Mexico convicted of sexual assault of a child in Starr County, Texas
• Randolfo Agusto Diaz-Cabrera, an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic convicted of course of second-degree sexual conduct against a child in Kings County, New York
• Brett Archer, an illegal alien from Barbados convicted of assault in Brooklyn, New York
• David Llama-Lopez, an illegal alien from Cuba convicted of human trafficking in Miami, Florida
• Jimena Vaglio-Navarrete, an illegal alien from Costa Rica convicted of second-degree burglary in Iredell County, North Carolina.

Credit: Urgell-Pardo/Diaz-Cabrera via DHS.

DHS has maintained that 70% of those arrested by ICE have criminal convictions or charges in addition to illegally entering the country. 

Thanks to funding allocated in President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” ICE has hired over 12,000 new agents after receiving over 220,000 applications. The new agents hired brought the total force from 10,000 to over 22,000.

“The good news is that thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump signed, we have an additional 12,000 ICE officers and agents on the ground across the country,” McLaughlin said. “That’s a 120% increase in our workforce. And that’s in just about four months.”