U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday announced the arrest of an Indian national and his spouse at its Houston office.
"An alien from India ran a large human smuggling operation in Texas," the agency posted.
"He and his spouse were apprehended at our Houston office by @ICEgov on charges of human smuggling, document fraud, and overstaying their visa.
"Human traffickers will be caught and held accountable," said the post.
The brief announcement highlights continued enforcement actions by ICE, which has markedly stepped up interior immigration operations under the Trump administration.
Nationwide arrest figures and field operations have surged since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, with ICE reporting thousands of arrests of individuals with criminal convictions or charges as part of broader efforts to enforce immigration law and public safety.
In Houston alone, previous operations have netted hundreds to thousands of criminal illegal aliens, including gang members, child predators, and other serious offenders, reflecting the agency’s intensified focus on interior enforcement.
Supporters of the enforcement push point to dramatic increases in ICE arrests and removal actions under Trump, including early 2025 figures showing tens of thousands of enforcement arrests in just weeks and increased detention capacity aimed at removing unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. interior.
However, the agency’s aggressive posture has drawn persistent criticism from Democrats and immigrant rights advocates who argue that the expanded enforcement sweep goes beyond targeting serious criminals and disrupts immigrant communities.
They have pressured both ICE and the administration to scale back interior raids and focus resources more narrowly.
Despite that pressure, ICE has maintained its operational tempo through 2025 and into 2026, underscoring the Trump administration’s priority on strict immigration enforcement.
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