A U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was struck in the mouth by a twice-deported criminal illegal alien on Monday.
Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, 33, of El Salvador was apprehended in Houston, according to a Department of Homeland Security news release.
When the convicted pedophile was being arrested, a scuffle took place.
The suspect allegedly resisted arrest and struck the ICE officer with a metal coffee cup.
The agent needed 13 stitches and suffered burns on his face.
“This young officer’s life has forever been altered as a result of the continued hyper-politicization of routine law enforcement activities and spread of misinformation by the media, NGOs and other groups opposed to immigration enforcement in this country,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said.
NEW: DHS says an ICE officer in Houston needed 13 stitches after a Salvadoran illegal alien convicted pedophile assaulted him with a metal coffee mug during arrest on Monday, splitting his lip open. Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez has prior convictions for sexual assault of a… pic.twitter.com/Jh0MB04cOb
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) November 6, 2025
“Rather than take their issues up with Congress, they shift their rage at the brave men and women of ICE who are putting their lives on the line every day to defend our communities from foreign terrorists, gang members, and other violent criminal aliens who are in the country illegally,” he added.
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Bradford noted that ICE agents are being battered as they go about their jobs, amid lies peddled by politicians that only further enflame the situation.
“By focusing on our officers and spreading false propaganda about how we accomplish our mission, they are emboldening dangerous illegal aliens like this child predator to physically resist arrest. This insanity has to stop before anyone else gets hurt,” he explained.
Rodriguez has a criminal record dating back to at least 2013 when he was convicted of sexually assaulting a child, DWI in September 2014, and illegal reentry in January 2020.
“Our brave ICE officers are facing record-high assaults—including a 1000% increase in assaults against them—as they lock up pedophiles and other depraved criminals to keep American families safe,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, according to the DHS news release.
“This repeated criminal illegal alien is about to find out the hard way that there’s a new sheriff in town—and under President Trump and Secretary Noem, anyone who lays a hand on our ICE officers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she continued.
The release said Rodriguez, whose initial illegal entry into the U.S. was never recorded, was deported for the first time on June 28, 2013.
NYPD OFFICERS: Work for a President and a Secretary who support and defend law enforcement — not defund or demonize it.https://t.co/3c7b0Ry86A pic.twitter.com/qtkmx0Nb4M
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) November 7, 2025
On Feb. 24, 2020, he was removed for a second time.
“He is now in ICE custody and can no longer pose a threat to Americans,” the DHS release concluded.
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