The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Friday, February 13th that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under DHS arrested an illegal immigrant criminal, Manuel Cruz-Ramirez from Mexico, at Portland International Airport on February 3rd.
According to the announcement, Cruz-Ramirez was arrested in Marion County, Oregon in 2025 for crimes including rape, sexual relations with minors, and sexual abuse. Despite the state’s sanctuary policies, this illegal immigrant criminal was allowed to “be released on bail, return to society, and continue to harm innocent people.”
He was apprehended at Portland International Airport while attempting to flee the United States using a forged passport.
At the airport security checkpoint, he presented a fake Mexican passport with the name Moises Ezquivel Mendoza. Because the passport could not be fully verified, CBP utilized fingerprint identification to confirm Cruz-Ramirez’s real identity and, in coordination with TSA, arrested him.
Cruz-Ramirez had been deported in July 2018 but illegally re-entered the U.S. at an undisclosed location and time, committing serious crimes.
Currently, he is detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the previous deportation order has been reinstated.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of DHS stated, “TSA and CBP acted swiftly to prevent this devil from escaping the U.S., protecting the public and our justice system. The American people should be proud of this!” She reiterated that “DHS’s enforcement agencies are working every day to protect American communities, preventing senseless tragedies like this from happening again in other towns and families.”
The announcement encourages victims and the public to contact the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office at 1-855-488-6423 to report crimes committed by illegal immigrants and seek assistance.