U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer with the Harris County Jail on Jose Maldonado-Zavala, a 60-year-old previously deported illegal alien from Honduras, following his arrest for suspicion of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Houston area woman.
According to arrest records, on July 2, Maldonado-Zavala falsely claimed the victim’s air conditioner at a Houston apartment complex was leaking into his apartment. Maldonado-Zavala allegedly grabbed the woman by her arm and dragged her into his residence by force. The victim told police Maldonado-Zavala then sexually assaulted her once inside his residence.
After a physical struggle, the victim reported the incident and told responding law enforcement authorities she fought off Maldonado-Zavala and managed to escape. A passing friend assisted her in a car and drove her to safety. Pasadena Police Department issued a lookout for Maldonado-Zavala shortly after the incident and announced his arrest on July 28.
Commenting on the illegal immigration status of Maldonado-Zavala, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said through a written statement, “This depraved criminal illegal alien should have never been in our country. Local police charged Maldonado-Zavala with kidnapping and sexually assaulting his neighbor. We will not allow criminal illegal aliens to prey on American citizens.
“This monster was already deported once in 2011,” McLaughlin continued. “Thanks to President Trump and Secretary Noem, we now have the most secure border in history and have stopped criminals like this from invading our country.”
Maldonado-Zavala was first deported to Honduras in 2011 after illegally entering the U.S. near Hidalgo, Texas. He illegally entered again at an unknown date and location, without being inspected by an immigration official.
An immigration detainer, filed by ICE, is a written request to state or local law enforcement officials, asking to be notified as soon as practicable before releasing a detained alien and to maintain custody of the subject of the detainer for up to 48 hours after a release date, to facilitate transfer to ICE custody for removal purposes.
Unlike some sanctuary policies and state laws across the United States that prohibit law enforcement authorities from honoring ICE detainer requests, Texas state law requires compliance. A Texas state law enacted in 2017, S.B. 4, forbids sanctuary city policies and requires local law enforcement authorities to comply with the written ICE detainer requests.
In July, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB8 into law. The new law requires all counties in Texas to enter into an agreement under the ICE 287 (g) program to enhance cooperation with the agency. According to information obtained from the federal immigration agency, 85 Texas counties have signed some level of agreement with ICE as of May 23.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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