Entered US on student visa, obtained green card, now in ICE custody: Australian man convicted of rape arrested in Florida

An Australian man who entered the United States as a student and later gained permanent residency is currently in immigration detention following a series of serious convictions.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted on X: “Australian criminal alien Andrew Lawrence Walsh, a convicted rapist, has been arrested by ICE officers in Orlando.”He was also convicted twice of driving under the influence in Arizona. Walsh entered the United States on a student visa and later received a green card, but due to his crime, he was detained by ICE pending deportation proceedings.Walsh’s case is not an isolated one involving a non-citizen with a criminal record. Authorities say such cases often combine serious crimes with immigration violations, leading to rearrest and possible deportation, especially during the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has taken a tough stance on immigration. In another case, José Raul Maita, an Ecuadorian national who had been deported twice, was arrested in Connecticut several months ago. He was convicted of sexually abusing a nine-year-old child and later entered the country illegally several times. Before his latest arrest, investigators tracked him under a false identity. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and has previous convictions for drink-driving and failing to register.Federal officials and the Republican “MAGA” base are taking more seriously programs like Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, where hundreds of noncitizens with criminal records have been detained. Those arrested include people convicted of child sexual assault, violent crimes, drug and fraud offences. One of the cases involved a Lao national who was convicted of multiple sexual offenses involving minors.In Florida, another case drew attention after Mexican national Roye Perez-Jimenez was detained by ICE on charges including felony impersonation and resisting arrest. He later died in custody.In addition, Indian citizen Sukhdev Singh was arrested by ICE earlier this month for allegedly causing a crash while driving an 18-wheeler in Indianapolis, seriously injuring a U.S. citizen. He was found to be living in the country illegally and was detained by ICE.