A convicted sex offender from Mexico has been arrested by ICE Dallas, marking another high-profile detention just days after an ICE officer was injured in a separate incident in Oklahoma.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Dallas-based Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, known as ERO Dallas, stated that officers had arrested 58-year-old Jose Aringa-Ramirez, a registered sex offender and citizen of Mexico. The agency said he had a prior conviction for sexually assaulting a child, as well as previous convictions for resisting arrest, driving while intoxicated, and two separate incidents of illegal reentry into the United States.
ICE did not specify the circumstances surrounding Aringa-Ramirez’s arrest, including when or where he was taken into custody beyond the general reference to Dallas. It is also unclear how agents located him, or in which jurisdictions his previous convictions occurred. As is often the case with immigration enforcement announcements, the timing of the arrest remains uncertain; however, the agency’s social media posts suggest it may have occurred on July 18. Announcements are sometimes delayed by several days.
The arrest of Aringa-Ramirez is the latest in a string of recent enforcement actions by ICE Dallas. Earlier this week, the same office was involved in a violent confrontation in Oklahoma City, where an ICE officer was injured during an attempted arrest.
According to a July 17 post from the agency, officers were attempting to detain 34-year-old Jose Melgar-Rivas, a Honduran national, on July 15 when he allegedly accelerated his van while an officer was still partially inside. The vehicle dragged the officer nearly a block before stopping. The suspect then reportedly tried to flee on foot but was apprehended after a joint manhunt involving ICE, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Dallas, The Dallas Express reported.
ICE officials report that assaults against immigration agents have surged by 830% since President Donald Trump returned to office on January 20.