Trump touts ‘worst of the worst’ criminal migrants captured in Minnesota thanks to ‘patriot’ ICE agents

He’s making America safe again.

President Trump lauded the work of his “patriot” ICE agents as he flashed mugshots of some of the most heinous illegal immigrant criminals the administration has rounded up in Minnesota for deportation — the “worst of the worst” among the thousands arrested in the last year.

“These are all from one state — out of many,” Trump marveled at a White House press briefing marking the first full year of his second term in the White House.

“Many of them murderers … do you want to live with these people?” the president asked as he held up the pictures one by one, their crimes spelled out beneath their faces in big white letters including murder, lewd acts with a minor, strong-arm rape, affiliation with Hezbollah and many more, some convicted dozens of times.

The monsters he displayed represented just a sliver of the 10,000 arrests ICE has made in Minnesota alone since Inauguration Day, with Trump saying he could easily show a similar stack of photos “30 times” more.

He held up a photo of Abdirashid Adosh Elmi, a Somali national convicted of homicide, and Aldrin Guerrero-Munoz, an illegal immigrant charged with intentionally murdering his three-month-old son.

“This is what they’re trying to protect,” the commander in chief said of the growing throngs of radical protesters who have been fighting immigration agents in Minneapolis for weeks.

“All ICE wants to do is get them out of our country. Bring them to prisons and jails and mental institutions from where they came, that’s all they want to do. They’re patriots.”

The president stressed that bringing these thugs to justice has required a “tremendous amount of work” by immigration agencies and ripped the Biden administration for allowing those illegal immigrants into the US.

One year into the second Trump administration, DHS has arrested 7,000 illegal immigrant gang members, making up some of the most despicable offenders nabbed so far.

“When we say we are targeting the worst of the worst, this is what exactly we mean,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin.

“Many of these were let in by Joe Biden and should have never been in this country. These vicious criminals murdered, assaulted, robbed, and terrorized innocent Americans for sport. But under President Trump’s and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership, ICE is turbocharged to arrest even more gang members and make America safe again.”

ICE has busted criminal thugs from more than a dozen murderous gangs, including the Crips, the Bloods, Norentos, MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Asian Boys, Trinitarios, the Latin Kings and many more.

Some of the gangbangers no longer terrorizing the streets of American cities thanks to Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown include:

• Vicente Paul Carreno-Aular, a criminal illegal immigrant from Venezuela and active Tren de Aragua gang member with a monstrous rap sheet including arrests for homicide, assault, cruelty towards a child, domestic violence and damage to property. He entered the US in 2022 and was turned loose by the Biden administration. ICE arrested him on February 28, 2025, and the Trump administration removed him on Sept. 12, 2025.

• Kevin Elenilson Avalos Diaz, a Salvadoran national and known associate of MS-13, previously convicted of homicide, conspiracy to commit homicide and kidnapping and arrested for arson, battery, armed carjacking and assault. He entered the country illegally in 2016 and was released into the country by the Obama administration. ICE arrested him on Jan. 8.

• Nester Fabian Londono, an illegal immigrant from Colombia and associate of the Latin Kings gang. He was previously convicted of homicide, voluntary manslaughter, smuggling heroin and DUI. He was previously removed in 2011 and re-entered the US illegally at an unknown date. ICE arrested him on Dec. 5, 2025.

Immigration officials held a press conference in Minneapolis Tuesday, touting their efforts and defending their agents’ tactics, which have come under fire after the shooting of anti-ICE protester Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent Jan. 8 after she clipped him with her SUV while ignoring commands get out of her car.

“Our operations are lawful,” said Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino. “They’re targeted and they’re focused on individuals who pose a serious threat to this community. They are not random, and they are not political.”

He slammed local politicians including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, whose vociferous and sustained condemnation of ICE’s presence has made for a “difficult operating environment” in the Twin Cities.

He blamed “collusion and corruption” between lefty politicians and “anarchists” for fostering the climate of violence that has taken hold during Operation Metro Surge, the largest immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota history.

Kicking off just after Thanksgiving, DHS arrested 3,000 criminals in Minnesota who were in the country illegally during the ongoing operation, which has seen the deployment of over 3,000 immigration agents.

“In the last six weeks, our brave DHS law enforcement have arrested 3,000 criminal illegal aliens including vicious murderers, rapists, child pedophiles and incredibly dangerous individuals. A huge victory for public safety,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said this week.

Some of the “worst of the worst” snagged in Operation Metro Surge include:

• Yang Koua Moua, an illegal immigrant from Laos with convictions for homicide and robbery associated with the Oriental Lo gang who was issued a final removal order in 2013. He was convicted in 1994 of murder with a firearm and conspiracy to commit robbery.
• Tze Thao, also from Laos and in the US illegally, was convicted in 2000 in St. Paul for murder and crime committed for the benefit of a gang and sentenced to 477 months in prison. Two years later, he was re-sentenced to serve just 318 months.
• Blong Xiong, an illegal immigrant from Laos, was convicted in St. Paul in 2004 for criminal sexual contact for the benefit of a gang, his victim just 12 years old. He was sentenced to 156 months in prison.