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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) captured two illegal immigrants who escaped custody after allegedly choking a female Border Patrol agent.
Juan Carmen Pardon Mendez, 29, and Juan Carlos Padron Barron, 23, both from Mexico, have been “taken back into custody and will be criminally prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed under the law,” according to ICE’s Houston office.
ICE said both men “escaped from custody on Sept. 22 in Conroe, Texas, after one of them was able to get out of [his] restraints and choked a female Border Patrol agent who was transferring them to the Montgomery Processing Center.”
“It is sickening that another law enforcement officer has been needlessly harmed as a direct result of the continued demonization of legitimate law enforcement activities by political leaders and certain members of the media,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez said in a statement.
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Juan Carlos Padron Mendes, left, and Juan Carmen Pardon Mendez, right, were recaptured by ICE after escaping custody on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2025. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))
“Every time they label the brave men and women who work for ICE, CBP, or Border Patrol as Nazis or bounty hunters, they might as well paint a bright target on their backs because attacks like this are inevitable and will continue to occur,” he added.
Both suspects were captured Tuesday with help from law enforcement partners, ICE said.
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ICE made 422 arrests earlier this year in an operation in Houston spanning just one week. (Fox News)
They initially were detained “during an ICE-led multi-agency enforcement operation targeting violent criminal aliens and egregious immigration offenders near Spring, Texas,” according to the agency.
“Padron Barron has illegally entered the U.S. at least three times and was previously expelled on Dec. 13, 2022, and Jan. 1, 2023,” ICE also said. “This is the first time that U.S. immigration officials have encountered Padron Mendez.”
Federal law enforcement officers take a suspect into custody in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 28, 2026. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))
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ICE added that the operations that resulted in the initial arrests of both men “are part of the current administration’s focus on restoring public safety by targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ illegal aliens and have resulted in historic numbers of transnational gang members and dangerous child predators being removed from local communities throughout Southeast Texas.”