Targeted Enforcement: A Closer Look at ICE’s operations on the border
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement ERO in El Paso continues to seek individuals in the country illegally, as well as those with legal status who have committed crimes in the U.S.
According to ICE statistics, the El Paso Field Office conducted 487 arrests in Fiscal Year 2025, which ended last month, along with 5,471 detentions and 17,771 removals from the country.
These operations took place during what ICE and other federal agencies call 'Targeted Enforcement Operations.'
ABC-7 accompanied ICE El Paso deportation officers to learn how they carry out these enforcement efforts, focusing on 51-year-old Martin Ruiz Duarte, a lawful permanent resident from Mexico who became a permanent resident in 2021.
He was charged and sentenced for indecency with a child, sexual contact.
"We have a list of targets wanted by ICE, which can include anyone from those we've released in good faith on an order of recognizance who don't show up for court, to individuals violating orders such as ankle monitors or watches that track their location, and who either delay reporting or fail to report to immigration officers," said an undercover ICE officer. "So if a judge issues a final order of removal in absentia, usually when the individual doesn't appear in court, the judge will issue a removal order in absentia, and it's our job to find them."
ICE personnel say that since the start of the Trump administration, they have acquired more and better resources to carry out targeted enforcement operations.
Other federal agencies, such as the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, and Border Patrol, have been collaborating with ICE to apprehend those wanted by DHS.
"And sometimes it's just like looking for a needle in a haystack," said an ICE deportation officer.
When ICE apprehends and detains someone, they are placed in removal proceedings and remain at the El Paso Service Processing Center until their immigration hearing before an immigration judge.
"Everyone that we go after is a target of ICE ERO, contrary to what the public may think, I'm not going to go in front of a Home Depot and just start gathering people; that's now what we do," said an ICE undercover deportation officer. "Everything's targeted, everything has a reason, whether you're in the country illegally, whether you're not following the conditions of your order of release, whether you didn't show up to court and you were given a final order in absentia; everyone that we have right now that we are targeting is for a reason."
"This type of enforcement action is something that our ICE officers, along with HSI special agents and agents from other federal agencies do practically every day; they're targeted enforcement operations, they're not raids," said Leticia Zamarripa, spokeswoman for ICE ERO El Paso Field Office.
