An Australian man who once entered the United States as a student and later secured permanent residency is now in immigration custody after a string of serious convictions.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posted on X: “Australian criminal alien Andrew Lawrence Walsh is a CONVICTED RAPIST arrested by ICE Orlando officers.”
He also has two DUI convictions out of Arizona. Walsh entered US on a student visa and later obtained a green card, but due to his crimes, he’s in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
Walsh’s case is not an isolated one involving non-citizens with prior criminal records. Authorities say such cases often combine serious offences with immigration violations, leading to renewed arrests and possible deportation, especially under US President Donald Trump’s second term, which has taken a hardline stance on immigration.
In a separate case, José Raul Maita, an Ecuadorian national, was arrested in Connecticut few months ago after previously being deported twice. He had been convicted of sexually abusing a nine-year-old and later reentered the country illegally multiple times. Investigators tracked him under a false identity before his latest arrest. He now faces up to 20 years in prison and had prior offences including DUI and failure to register.
Federal officials and the Republican MAGA base have put more emphasis on programs such as “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, where hundreds of non-citizens with criminal records were detained. Those arrested included individuals convicted of child sexual assault, violent crimes, and drug and fraud offences. One case involved a Laotian national convicted of multiple sexual offences involving minors.
In Florida, another case drew attention after Mexican national Royer Perez-Jimenez was taken into ICE custody on charges including felony impersonation and resisting arrest. He later died while in detention.
Moreover, Indian national Sukhdev Singh was arrested by ICE in earlier this month after allegedly causing a crash in Indianapolis that critically injured a US citizen while driving an 18-wheeler. He was found to be residing in the country unlawfully and was taken into ICE custody.
