EXCLUSIVE: 17,500 illegal immigrants arrested under Laken Riley Act in Trump’s second term
EXCLUSIVE: More than 17,500 illegal immigrants in 2025 have been arrested for crimes requiring mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act — the first law President Donald Trump signed in...
By Fox News · Fox News
EXCLUSIVE: More than 17,500 illegal immigrants in 2025 have been arrested for crimes requiring mandatory detention under the Laken Riley Act — the first law President Donald Trump signed in his second term. The act is named for Laken Riley, a Georgia college student allegedly murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant and member of the designated terrorist gang Tren de Aragua who had been previously arrested and released before her death. The act mandates that illegal immigrants arrested — but not necessarily yet convicted — for several specific crimes must be held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention and processing. DHS RIPS DEM-RUN COUNTY AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERER RELEASED: 'BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS' Qualifying crimes include theft-related offenses, DUI or DWI, and violent crimes including murder, rape, sexual abuse, assault on police and firearms infractions. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also announced Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had concluded " Operation Angel’s Honor ," a two-week nationwide endeavor launched in Riley’s honor to strictly target Laken Riley Act offenders. That operation alone netted an average of dozens of criminal illegal immigrants per day. DHS TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ARRESTING OVER 10K ILLEGAL ALIENS IN DEEP BLUE CITY DESPITE VIOLENT RIOTS "In honor of Laken Riley, ICE launched Operation Angel’s Honor — in the last 2 weeks alone arresting more than 1,000 criminal illegal aliens under the authority of the Laken Riley Act," Noem told Fox News Digital. Noem credited Trump for empowering her agency to go after millions of criminal illegal immigrants residing in the U.S., including those "unleashed" into the interior by previous administrations. "We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice," Noem said. DHS ARRESTS 'WORST OF THE WORST' ILLEGAL MIGRANTS, INCLUDING MURDERERS AND PEDOPHILES, IN WEEKEND OPERATION Some of the…