ICE agents arrested 238 people in the Rio Grande Valley. This all happened in one day. It is the most arrests ever in one day for the Harlingen ICE office. That office is based here in South Texas. The arrests happened on June 18. Local, state and federal officers worked together.

ICE said the goal was safety. Agents went after people with bad records. Those people were already living here. The timing matters a lot. Just days before, an ICE shooting in Houston made news. That shooting put ICE under fire. Now ICE points to this sweep as proof its work helps. At the same time, ICE faces hard questions.

Officials said many people picked up had bad records. Some had records for kidnapping. Others had records for sex crimes and drugs. ICE did not name all 238 people. Agents named a few as examples.

One man was Manuel Morales-Geronimo. ICE said he may be in the Paisas gang. He was found guilty of assault. He was also found guilty of a sex crime called sexual battery. He was found guilty of having drugs. He was found guilty of having marijuana too. He was found guilty of drunk driving. He also came back into the U.S. after being sent away. That crime is called illegal reentry.

Agents also picked up Jose Alfredo Castillo-Mendoza. He was convicted of trying to kidnap someone. He was also convicted of sexual battery. Agents picked up Fernando Leonel Perez-Torres too. His record includes theft. He also had a crash where someone was hurt. A fourth man is Noe Tinoco Perez. He was found guilty of drug trafficking. He was also found guilty of running a place to sell drugs. He was found guilty of having drugs too.

Juan Agudelo runs the ICE office in Harlingen. He said the arrests fit a bigger goal.

"The ICE mission continues to focus on enhancing public safety and restoring integrity to our nation's immigration system," Agudelo said. "We will stop at nothing to keep our American communities safe by removing one criminal illegal alien at a time."

ICE faces hard questions across Texas now. Last week, an ICE agent shot a man in Houston. The man died. He was in the country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security looked into it. DHS said the agent acted to protect himself. DHS said the man did not obey orders. DHS said the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon.

After that, people heard a rumor. They heard ICE would stop doing traffic stops. President Donald Trump said no. He wrote online early Wednesday. He posted this on Truth Social: "we CANNOT give up one of I.C.E.'s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools, THE TRAFFIC STOP!"

Trump said old border rules let in many people. He said the rules did not check people well. He said some of those people had crime records. He said those people must leave the country. He also told ICE agents this: "be judicious, fair and smart, and go back and do your very important job."

Two big ICE stories are happening at once. One is this arrest sweep. It pulled 238 people off Valley streets. Many had bad records. The other story is the deadly shooting. Families and groups are asking hard questions about it. Both stories are about ICE. Both are happening in Texas right now.

For now, ICE is not slowing down here. The agency points to this sweep as proof its work matters. Men with bad records are now off Valley streets, ICE says. It is not clear if the Houston shooting will change things. It is not clear how ICE will balance safety with more arrests.