An Australian man who once entered the United States as a student and later obtained permanent residence is now in immigration detention following a felony conviction.US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted on Twitter: “Australian criminal alien Andrew Lawrence Walsh is a convicted rapist who has been arrested by ICE Orlando officers.”He also has two DUI convictions out of Arizona. Walsh entered the US on a student visa and later obtained a green card, but because of his crimes, he is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.Walsh’s case is not an isolated case involving noncitizens with prior criminal records. Authorities say such cases often combine serious crimes with immigration violations, leading to renewed arrests and possible deportation, especially under the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has taken a tough stance on immigration. In a separate case, Ecuadorian citizen Jose Raul Maita was arrested in Connecticut a few months ago after being deported twice. He was convicted of sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl and later entering the country illegally multiple times. Before his latest arrest, investigators had tracked him under a false identity. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and also had prior convictions including DUI and failure to register.Federal officials and the Republican MAGA base have placed greater emphasis on programs such as “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, where hundreds of noncitizens with criminal records were detained. Those arrested included individuals convicted of child sexual assault, violent crimes, and drug and fraud crimes. One case involved a Laotian national convicted of multiple sex crimes involving minors.In Florida, another case drew attention when Mexican citizen Royer Pérez-Jimenez was taken into ICE custody on charges including felony murder and resisting arrest. He later died while in custody.Additionally, Indian national Sukhdev Singh was arrested by ICE earlier this month on charges of causing a crash in Indianapolis in which a US citizen was seriously injured while driving an 18-wheeler. He was found to be in the country illegally and taken into ICE custody.
