The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Monday, February 9th, that an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, Fredy Aureliano Morales-Ramirez, attacked two officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, accused of violent crimes, and has been sentenced.
Morales-Ramirez admitted to violently assaulting federal officers and has been sentenced to serve one year and one day in federal prison, after which he will be deported.
Originally an illegal immigrant criminal with a final removal order, Morales-Ramirez was the target of a focused arrest operation by ICE officials in Lake Worth Beach, Florida, in August 2025. During the arrest, Morales-Ramirez violently resisted, snatched handcuffs from an ICE official, grabbed one officer’s groin, and attempted to strangle another officer. The officers sustained cuts and bruises during the altercation.
With the assistance of local law enforcement, ICE officials successfully apprehended the illegal immigrant criminal.
Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated, “This illegal immigrant not only entered our country unlawfully, in violation of our laws, but also violently attacked law enforcement personnel, grabbing an officer’s groin and attempting to strangle another officer’s neck, constituting federal crimes and serious offenses.”
She emphasized, “This is the dangerous situation our officers face every day in enforcing the law,” and condemned sanctuary cities for “encouraging illegal immigrants to evade arrest,” leading to a “1300% increase in assaults on our law enforcement officers, a 3200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8000% increase in death threats.”
The announcement quoted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem as saying, “Anyone who dares to harm our federal law enforcement officers will face severe legal consequences.”