Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE closed out 2025 with a major enforcement surge in deep-blue California, arresting 118 illegal aliens in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties—both located in a so-called “sanctuary state” that routinely shields criminals from federal authorities.
And despite years of claims from left-wing politicians that enforcement targets “otherwise law-abiding” migrants, ICE’s arrest list tells a very different story.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, those arrested include registered sex offenders, pedophiles, domestic abusers, burglars, alien smugglers, and serial drunk drivers—exactly the type of offenders sanctuary policies are supposed to keep off the streets, yet consistently fail to do so.
“ICE ended 2025 with a surge operation in California targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Breitbart News.
“One hundred and eighteen illegal aliens were arrested, including pedophiles, registered sex offenders, burglars, domestic abusers, and serial drunk drivers.”
The operation ran from December 26 through December 31, 2025, and immediately exposed how sanctuary policies have allowed dangerous criminals to embed themselves in California communities.
Among the most disturbing arrests:
-
Juan Perez Tello, 42, an illegal alien from Mexico, convicted of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 and listed as a registered sex offender.
-
Rogelio Sanchez Hidalgo, 41, also from Mexico, convicted of lewd acts with a child under 14, a registered sex offender, and previously convicted of illegal re-entry into the United States.
ICE also released details on numerous additional offenders swept up in the operation:
-
Gabino Najera-Romano, 39 (Mexico) – convicted of battery.
-
Victor Alfonso Graciano-Quiterio, 40 (Mexico) – convicted of battery, multiple drug possession charges, threatening a witness, disorderly conduct, and repeated domestic violence restraining order violations.
-
Filemon Diego-Francisco, 38 – convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats intended to terrorize.
-
Raymundo Bojorges Mendez, 47 (Mexico) – four DUI convictions, including DUI causing bodily injury, and driving on a suspended license.
-
Misael Amador Cruz, 41 (Mexico) – convicted of DUI, hit-and-run, false imprisonment, and driving without a license.
-
Marcelino Martinez-Francisco, 36 (Mexico) – convicted of causing injury to a child, hit-and-run, and two DUIs, with additional DUI and probation violation charges pending.
-
Julio Cesar Tadeo Lopez, 32 (Mexico) – convicted of DUI causing great bodily injury, hit-and-run, and another DUI.
-
Anatolio Clavijo-Urbano, 46 (Mexico) – convicted of second-degree burglary.
-
Jose Miguel Pineda-Garcia, 44 (Mexico) – convicted of alien smuggling.
In short, this wasn’t a roundup of landscapers or dishwashers—it was a cleanup operation targeting hardened criminals who never should have been in the country in the first place.
McLaughlin placed the blame squarely where it belongs: California’s political leadership.
“Illegal aliens flock to California because they know Governor Newsom and his fellow sanctuary politicians will allow them to terrorize innocent American families,” she said.
And she made clear that the Trump administration has no intention of backing down.
“In 2026, our law enforcement will continue to do what Gavin Newsom has refused to do: make California safe again.”
Once again, federal enforcement succeeded in spite of sanctuary policies—not because of them. And once again, the facts demolish the left’s narrative: when ICE is allowed to do its job, American communities are safer.
