U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the completion of a 14-day enforcement and apprehension operation in honor of Laken Riley. In February 2024, Riley was assaulted and bludgeoned to death by a criminal illegal alien. Her murder put a spotlight on the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous border crisis and became a focal point of Donald Trump's presidential campaign in the 2024 election. On November 20, 2024, Riley's murderer was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Congress passed the Laken Riley Act in January 2025, and it was the first piece of legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law.
In a Monday ICE press release, director Todd Lyons said:
“We named this operation 'Angel’s Honor' in honor of the memory of Laken Riley, whose life was tragically cut short by illegal alien crime,” said ICE Director Todd Lyons. “This operation, while a massive success, also serves as a solemn reminder of the profound impact that immigrant violence and crime can have on victims and their loved ones. ICE’s mission is to ensure that no more Americans will fall victim to illegal alien crime.”
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The operation netted over 1,000 illegal criminals who are now set to be removed from our country.
National operation, Angel's Honor. 14 days. Over 1,000 illegal aliens detained.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) December 23, 2025
In honor of Laken Riley whose life was taken by a violent, criminal illegal alien.
ICE’s mission is to ensure that no more Americans will fall victim to illegal alien crime. pic.twitter.com/2uRB2bVbHj
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials apprehended over 1,030 illegal aliens using its authority under the Laken Riley Act during its two-week Operation Angel’s Honor, The Post has learned.
The sweeping operation, which wrapped up Monday, was conducted in memory of Laken Riley, a nursing student who was brutally bludgeoned to death last year by an illegal immigrant while out for a jog.
“These criminals will face justice and be removed from our country,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement.
“We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice. I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets.”
ICE listed about a dozen of "the worst of the worst" criminal illegals it took off the street during Operation Angel’s Honor. Most were military-aged young men and a handful of women who have records of rape, murder, torture, indecency with minors; the list is quite awful. And these are the ones that ICE knows about. The rabidly anti-ICE sanctuary cities and states, like Boston, Illinois, and Los Angeles, continue to hinder and prevent the necessary work of removing this cancer from the body politic. The ICE press release continued:
However, despite this law, sanctuary jurisdictions refuse to turn over criminal illegal aliens into ICE custody, forcing our officers to risk their lives to hunt them down, re-arrest them and remove them from the United States.
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Jocelyn Nungaray. Rachel Morin. Megan Bos. Ivory Smith and hundreds of others who were brutalized and suffered untimely deaths at the hands of criminal illegals should never be forgotten. Just as GOP Rep. Abe Hamadeh (AZ-08) is pushing a bill to establish a memorial honoring the families who have lost their loved ones at the hands of illegal aliens, so initiatives like Operation Angel's Honor are a reminder of not just what has been stolen, but of the work still left to be done to secure America's borders.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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