Twice deported child predator arrested by ICE after violently assaulting officer with metal cup during attempt to flee

HOUSTON - ICE arrested Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, a 33-year-old twice deported criminal alien and child predator from El Salvador, Nov. 4 in Houston. During the encounter, Rodriguez is alleged to have resisted arrest and physically assaulted an ICE officer with a metal coffee cup causing serious burns and a deep gash to his face that required 13 stitches.

"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," said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. "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. 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."

Rodriguez has illegally entered the U.S. at least three times and was ordered removed by an immigration judge and deported June 28, 2013, and Feb. 24, 2020. While in the U.S., he has been convicted of sexually assaulting a child in January 2013, DWI in September 2014, and illegal reentry in January 2020. Following this most recent arrest, he was referred for prosecution for illegal reentry and assaulting a federal officer.

Members of the public who have information about criminal aliens, transnational gang members or foreign fugitives who they suspect are in the U.S. illegally are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE's online tip form.