The federal government says it deported five men last week. It says all five were gang members. It says each one had a criminal record.

The Department of Homeland Security put out the list on September 2. DHS did not say how many people it sent out in all. It named these five as examples.

Two of the five have a Texas link. DHS says both of them walked into the country here.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin put out a statement with the list.

"Last week, the brave men and women of ICE made our country safer by deporting illegal alien gang members, including kidnappers, violent assailants, drug traffickers, and burglars," Mullin said.

Mullin also said this: "The Trump Administration is working hard every single day to undo the damage caused by the Biden Administration's reckless open-border policies. We will never apologize for deporting illegal aliens, because that's how we save lives."

Erik Alexis Valladares-Corea is from Honduras. DHS calls him an MS-13 member. He went out on August 24. DHS says he was convicted of abduction, of having a weapon, and of coming back after he was kicked out. DHS says he first came in through Texas in April 2015. A judge ordered him out in May 2020. He was sent out that same month.

Balmore Vladimir Hernandez-Lopez is from El Salvador. DHS calls him an MS-13 member too. He went out on August 25. DHS lists one conviction for him. It was assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. A judge ordered him out in 2007. He was sent out in 2016. DHS says he came back through Texas in February 2017. Border Patrol caught him. He was sent out again that same month. DHS says he came back a third time.

Enrique Carrasco-Polanco is from Mexico. DHS calls him a Sinaloa Cartel member. He went out on August 29. DHS says he was convicted in a plan to sell meth. The amount was 500 grams or more. He was also convicted of having a gun to help a drug crime. DHS says he was sent out three times before. Those were in 2014, 2015 and 2017.

Abner Geovani Del Valle-Lemus is from Guatemala. DHS calls him an 18th Street member. He went out on August 28. DHS says he was convicted of battery, car theft, burglary and vandalism. Border Patrol caught him in June 2014. He was let go. A judge ordered him out this July.

Brian Damian Iglesias-Rodriguez is from Uruguay. DHS calls him a Latin Kings member. He went out on August 24. DHS says he was convicted of assault, of breaking into a car, and of drug crimes. He says he came in through New York in 2002. DHS says he was sent out twice before. Those were in 2021 and 2022.

DHS left a lot out of the list. It gave no court papers. It gave no case numbers. It did not say which courts took the cases. It did not give the men's ages.

DHS also did not say what country each man was flown to.

There is one more gap. Some of what DHS printed are convictions. Some are only arrests. An arrest is not the same thing. For Hernandez-Lopez, DHS listed arrests for human trafficking, for bringing goods into a prison, and for resisting an officer. DHS did not say how those cases ended.

The gang labels come from DHS. The agency did not point to a court ruling for any of them. It did not say what proof it used.

Those labels have been fought over before. CBS News reported in 2025 that experts do not trust tattoos as proof of gang ties. Rebecca Hanson teaches at the University of Florida. She wrote in a court paper that gangs in Venezuela do not use tattoos to mark members. That fight was about a different gang and different men. It is not about these five.

The Valley reads this kind of news up close. El Tejano wrote in July about ICE sending two murder suspects back to Mexico. You can read that story here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/ice-sends-two-murder-suspects-back-to-mexico/

A charge is not proof. Everyone is innocent until a court says otherwise.