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FIRST ON FOX: A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers "continued delivering the American people the greatest gift of 2025" by keeping up operations over Christmas weekend, arresting a murderer and child predators.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, DHS said that "while Americans celebrated the Christmas season and prepare for the new year," ICE "continued arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens across the country."
Among those arrested on Sunday was a Cuban criminal illegal alien named Julio Miguel Gonzalez, who was convicted of homicide-willful kill in Miami.
Another, Juan Perez-Tello, from Mexico, was arrested by ICE and had been convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old in Santa Barbara, California.
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Left to right from top: Juan Perez-Tello, Julio Miguel Gonzalez, Carlos Esqueda-Ortega, Jose Barrera-Bolanos, Gustavo Benitez-Barrueta. (DHS: Reuters)
Jose Barrera-Bolanos, another criminal illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested on Sunday. He has a conviction for sexual assault of a child in Denver.
A third Mexican illegal arrested by ICE this weekend was Carlos Esqueda-Ortega, who has multiple convictions, including illegal re-entry after deportation, possession of a controlled substance for sale, inflicting corporal injury of a spouse/cohabitant, and felon/addict in possession of a firearm in San Diego, Santa Rosa, Stockton and Manteca, California.
In Texas, Mexican illegal alien Gustavo Benitez-Barrueta was arrested by ICE. He has been convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute/sell in Austin.
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Residents confront federal agents and Border Patrol agents over their presence in their neighborhood on Atlantic Blvd. in the Los Angeles suburb of Bell. (Getty Images)
"While Americans across the country spent time with their families this Christmas season, ICE continued delivering the American people the greatest gift of 2025: getting criminals out of our neighborhoods and protecting our families," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.
"ICE officers arrested heinous criminal illegal aliens yesterday, including monsters who sexually abused children and murderers," McLaughlin continued, adding, "Under President Trump and Secretary Noem criminal illegal aliens have NO PLACE in our country."
Earlier this month, Fox News Digital reported that more than 2.5 million illegal immigrants have left the United States over the past year, including more than 605,000 deportations since President Donald Trump took office in January.
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President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Friday, Dec.19, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
In addition to the deportations, DHS has been encouraging illegal immigrants in the U.S. to return to their native countries using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Home Mobile App, through which users can receive a complimentary plane ticket home and a $1,000 exit bonus upon their return.
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In the agency’s statement to Fox News Digital, DHS said that "those in the U.S. illegally will receive the $3K stipend and a free flight home if they sign up to self-deport through the CBP Home app by the end of the year."
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
