ICE tracks down illegal immigrants who escaped custody after allegedly choking a female agent

MONTGOMERY, TEXAS: Two Mexican nationals pulled off a brazen and violent jailbreak in Texas before law enforcement quickly recaptured them.

Officials say the pair escaped from Border Patrol custody after one of them allegedly choked a female agent who was transporting them to a detention facility.

The escape occurred on September 22 in Conroe, Texas, while the detainees were being driven to the Montgomery Processing Center. According to ICE, “one of them was able to get out of [his] restraints and choked a female Border Patrol agent who was transferring them to the Montgomery Processing Center.”

The duo, identified as Juan Carmen Padron Mendez, 29, and Juan Carlos Padron Barron, 23, didn’t remain free for long. ICE’s Houston office confirmed that both men were “taken back into custody and will be criminally prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed under the law.”

Part of bigger crackdown

ICE said the two were apprehended during a multi-agency enforcement operation in the greater Houston area, targeting violent criminal aliens and “egregious immigration offenders” near Spring, Texas.

ICE added that these operations “are part of the current administration’s focus on restoring public safety by targeting the ‘worst of the worst’ illegal aliens and have resulted in historic numbers of transnational gang members and dangerous child predators being removed from local communities throughout Southeast Texas.”

Following the escape, officers launched a manhunt from the pair’s last known location at Interstate 45 and North Loop 336 in Conroe. Within hours, the fugitives were located just outside the city limits Monday evening.

ICE slams attack

Gabriel Martinez, Acting Field Office Director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston, condemned the assault.

“It is sickening that another law enforcement officer has been needlessly harmed as a direct result of the continued demonization of legitimate law enforcement activities by political leaders and certain members of the media,” Martinez said.

He added, “Every time they label the brave men and women who work for ICE, CBP, or Border Patrol as Nazis or bounty hunters, they might as well paint a bright target on their backs because attacks like this are inevitable and will continue to occur.”

ICE also shared the men’s immigration histories. Padron Barron had illegally entered the US at least three times and was previously expelled on December 13, 2022, and January 1, 2023. This was Padron Mendez’s first recorded encounter with ICE or Border Patrol.

ICE did not disclose whether the female agent suffered any injuries.

Southern border crackdown

Just days earlier, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revealed that the entire US–Mexico border wall will be painted black to make it harder to climb and more resistant to rust.

Noem credited President Donald Trump for the initiative, stating the black paint will make the wall even warmer under hot temperatures, deterring attempts to climb it.

About half a mile of wall is being built daily along the nearly 2,000-mile border. Additional “waterborne infrastructure” is planned for the Rio Grande, which comprises more than half of the US–Mexico dividing line.

The paint job is part of a larger immigration crackdown. Earlier this summer, Trump’s policy allocated $46 billion for wall construction. Officials say this mix of deportations, detentions, and wall expansion has contributed to a recent drop in border crossings.

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