As harsh criticism of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal and local law enforcement agencies mount in some quarters, with some activists and politicians calling for the abolishment of ICE and the defunding of other federal and local law enforcement agencies, two recent cases in Philadelphia illustrate the good work that the Feds are doing to protect the public by dealing with illegal immigrant criminals.

On September 16, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington D.C. released a statement after ICE arrested a previously deported illegal alien sex offender who had been convicted of sexual assault in Pennsylvania.

“After ICE Philadelphia received an intelligence tip via the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) tipline, ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) obtained a criminal warrant for Marco Gomez, an illegal alien from the Dominican Republic, on charges of illegal re-entry and failure to register as a sex offender. On September 14, ICE, HSI, and USMS arrested Gomez in Philadelphia. He is currently in USMS custody,” DHS stated.

According to DHS, Gomez’s criminal history includes convictions for attempt of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault, and unlawful restraint in Philadelphia County in April 2006, which made him a tier 3 registered sex offender in Pennsylvania. After serving his sentence, he was deported on August 4, 2015.

“This illegal alien has been convicted of sexual assault and is a registered sex offender in the state of Pennsylvania,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “After being deported following his sentence, he illegally re-entered the United States under the Biden Administration and had been living in Philadelphia. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of ICE, as well as our partners in the Department of Justice, this predator has been taken off our streets. He will soon be removed from our country and will no longer be able to threaten American citizens.”

Gomez first illegally entered the United States at an unknown date and location. 

“Following his deportation in 2015, he claims to have illegally re-entered the United States — a felony — at an unknown date and location in 2023 under the Biden Administration,” DHS stated.

The Feds also dealt with another bad guy illegal alien. On September 17, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf announced that Gurlal Singh, 31, an Indian national who has been residing in the U.S. illegally, has been convicted at trial of drug and gun offenses.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), Singh was charged by superseding indictment in September of last year and found guilty by a federal jury of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and possession of a firearm by an alien illegally and unlawfully in the U.S.

“As detailed in court filings and proven at trial, on August 28, 2024, at approximately 1:17 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police troopers from Hamburg Barracks and Bethel Township Police Department officers responded to the defendant’s Bethel Township, Berks County residence for a report of a shooting incident related to a home invasion. Troopers secured the location, conducted a safety sweep, and located an AK-47 style rifle near the front door, as well as a fired cartridge casing and projectile on the first floor,” the USAO stated. “The same day, investigators obtained and executed a state search and seizure warrant for the residence. A search of the premises revealed a quantity of cocaine, kilogram size wrapping materials, and a black digital scale.

Law enforcement learned that between April 2024 and August 28, 2024, Singh and another person, charged elsewhere, possessed with the intent to distribute 28 kilograms of cocaine. The cocaine was initially stored at Singh’s Bethel residence, which is in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and subsequently moved by the defendant and the other person to an area storage facility located in the Middle District of Pennsylvania.” 

In addition to the AK-47 style rifle that he possessed and discharged in his home, the USAO noted, Singh was found to have two shotguns, a pistol, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, which, as an illegal alien and prohibited person, he was not lawfully permitted to possess.

Singh is scheduled to be sentenced on January 7 and faces a maximum possible term of life imprisonment.

“The case is part of “Operation Take Back America,” a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” the USAO stated.

The USAO further noted that the case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Pennsylvania State Police, with assistance from the Bethel Township Police Department and the Berks County District Attorney’s Office.

Two illegal alien criminals were taken off the streets by the Feds. How many more are there?

Paul Davis’s On Crime column appears here each week. He is also a contributor to Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached via pauldavisoncrime.com.