A Christmas Gift for Every American: Worst of Worst Criminal Illegal Alien Murderers, Drug Traffickers, and Gang Members Arrested

ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is a federal law‑enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security that enforces immigration and customs laws inside the United States. Its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers identify, arrest, detain, and remove noncitizens who violate immigration law or are ordered removed. ICE’s authority to arrest noncitizens mainly comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act, especially 8 U.S.C. § 1357, which allows designated immigration officers to interrogate noncitizens about their right to be in the U.S. and to arrest them without a warrant in certain immigration‑violation situations, as well as related detention provisions in the INA.

The phrase “criminal illegal alien” used in the release is political and descriptive, not a precise legal term defined in U.S. statutes. In DHS/ICE practice, “criminal alien” generally means a non‑U.S. citizen (“alien” in statutory language) who has at least one qualifying criminal conviction, regardless of the specific statute used for the conviction, while “illegal” is often used to describe people who lack lawful immigration status or are removable. DHS’s own statistical glossary defines a “criminal alien” as any alien with an appropriate criminal conviction, and civil‑rights groups note that “criminal alien” is not a formal legal category in federal law but a label used in enforcement and public messaging.

After ICE arrests someone, several things can happen, often in combination:

• Civil immigration process: ICE “processes” the person for immigration violations and usually serves a Notice to Appear (NTA), starting removal (deportation) proceedings in immigration court. While the case is pending, ICE may keep the person in immigration detention or release them under supervision (for example, on bond, parole, or an alternatives‑to‑detention program), under INA § 236 (8 U.S.C. § 1226).
• Criminal process: If the person is wanted for, or suspected of, crimes, they may be transferred to federal or state criminal authorities for prosecution; criminal cases are handled by prosecutors and criminal courts, not the immigration court.
• Removal after a final order: If an immigration judge (or existing order) authorizes removal and no further legal stays apply, ICE is responsible for physically deporting the person, generally under the post‑order detention rules in INA § 241 (8 U.S.C. § 1231). The DHS Christmas‑arrests release itself does not detail the post‑arrest steps for these specific individuals, but this is the standard framework that applies to ICE arrests nationwide.

“Worst of the Worst” in this context is a Department of Homeland Security / ICE communications label, not a defined legal status. DHS uses “Worst of the Worst” as a keyword and series theme to highlight arrests of noncitizens with serious criminal convictions (such as homicide, sexual offenses, or gang‑related violence). ICE maintains a public “Worst of the Worst” webpage that showcases recent “high‑profile and worst of the worst arrests,” and multiple 2025 DHS press releases—including separate operations like Operation Metro Surge—use the same phrase to frame certain enforcement actions. The Christmas‑arrests release follows this pattern but does not describe a stand‑alone statutory program called “Worst of the Worst.”

Tricia McLaughlin is the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. According to her official DHS biography, she oversees DHS’s public outreach, including media, digital, strategic, and crisis communications, and serves as the principal communications advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security. Her role is to shape and deliver public messaging about DHS components—including ICE—and their activities, such as issuing statements and press releases like this Christmas‑arrests announcement; operational decisions about arrests are made by ICE’s law‑enforcement leadership, not by the Office of Public Affairs.

The Christmas‑arrests press release does not identify these arrests as part of any specific named operation or multi‑jurisdiction task force. It simply states that ICE officers made arrests on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then lists ten individuals with prior convictions. By contrast, other DHS/ICE releases explicitly name operations when they exist (for example, “Operation Metro Surge” in Minneapolis). The absence of such a label here indicates that, based on the public release, these arrests are not tied to a publicly named operation.

No. The release names ten specific individuals and describes their prior convictions and locations, but it does not state the total number of people arrested nationwide on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It only says ICE “continued arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens across the country” without giving any overall arrest count.

People arrested by ICE have several key legal protections in removal proceedings:

• Constitutional protections: Everyone in the U.S., including noncitizens, has due‑process protections under the Constitution (for example, the right to a fair hearing and to be free from unlawful detention or coercion).
• Right to counsel at no government expense: In immigration (civil) proceedings, noncitizens have the right to be represented by a lawyer, but—unlike in criminal cases—the government does not provide free appointed counsel. They must hire an attorney or seek free/low‑cost legal aid (INA § 292, 8 U.S.C. § 1362, as reflected in rights summaries by civil‑rights groups).
• Immigration‑court rights: People in removal proceedings generally have the right to receive a charging document (Notice to Appear), to a hearing before an immigration judge (unless placed into limited fast‑track procedures like expedited removal), to present evidence and witnesses, to challenge the government’s case, and to apply for any legal relief they may qualify for (such as asylum or cancellation of removal). Access to counsel greatly increases the chance of successfully asserting these rights, but many detained immigrants go to court without a lawyer. During any separate criminal prosecution (for example, for smuggling or weapons charges), standard U.S. criminal‑procedure rights apply, including the right to government‑appointed counsel if the person cannot afford one.