Two brothers from Mexico, both wanted for a brutal double homicide in their home country, were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Arlington, Texas, on July 31, 2025. The apprehension of Pedro Luis Ortiz Mendez, 30, and his younger brother, Jose Vicente Ortiz Mendez, 29, marks the latest in a series of high-profile ICE operations targeting foreign fugitives accused of violent crimes abroad. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Ortiz Mendez brothers had crossed the U.S.-Mexico border undetected after the killings, evading authorities for more than a year before their capture.
The men are suspected of committing a gruesome attack at a patron-saint festival in San Luis Potosi, a city nestled in central Mexico north of Guanajuato, on May 24, 2024. DHS reports that one victim was shot while the other was assaulted with a machete during the bloody incident. The festival, a significant event in many Mexican communities, turned tragic when violence erupted, sending shockwaves through the local population and prompting an international manhunt for the suspects.
When ICE agents finally caught up with Pedro and Jose in Texas, their appearance was as striking as the charges against them. Mugshots released by authorities show both men wearing tattered white t-shirts spattered with paint, a detail that, while minor, seemed to underscore the chaos of their flight from justice. Pedro, notably, appeared to smirk slightly in his booking photo—a detail that quickly caught the attention of both law enforcement and the media.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin of the Department of Homeland Security spoke candidly about the significance of the arrests. "From foreign fugitives, gang members, and terrorists, ICE is getting the worst of the worst off our street and out of our country," McLaughlin told The New York Post. She emphasized that the Ortiz Mendez brothers are emblematic of a broader issue: foreign nationals with violent histories who enter the United States without detection, sometimes blending into communities for years.
McLaughlin also addressed the ongoing debate about how to classify such individuals in public discourse and official statistics. "These two cold-blooded killers are representative of who media often refer to as 'non-criminals,' because they only have heinous convictions in their home country," she said. "70% of ICE arrests have been convicted or charged with a crime in the United States. The actual arrests of public safety threats and criminals is much higher." According to ICE, the widely cited statistic—that 70% of ICE arrests involve individuals convicted or charged with crimes in the U.S.—does not account for those, like the Ortiz Mendez brothers, whose criminal records are rooted in foreign jurisdictions.
The brothers' ability to slip across the border undetected underscores persistent concerns about gaps in border security and the challenges of tracking individuals with violent pasts. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that both men entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location, and without inspection by an immigration officer. Their presence in Texas, far from the scene of the original crime, highlights the mobility of fugitives and the importance of cross-border cooperation in law enforcement.
The context of the murders themselves adds another layer of complexity to the case. Patron-saint festivals are a longstanding tradition in Mexico, often blending religious devotion with communal celebration. However, as reported by The New York Post, these festivals have occasionally been marred by violence, sometimes with connections to organized crime. Mexico’s drug cartels, for instance, are known to venerate certain patron saints—most notably Santa Muerte, a figure that fuses imagery of the Grim Reaper with elements of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Robert Almonte, a Texas-based security consultant and former deputy chief of the El Paso Police Department, explained that "the narcos and the gangs all believe in the power of prayer. They believe that the saints will protect them no matter what they do—and that’s dangerous because it emboldens the traffickers who truly believe they can get away with murder and still go to heaven."
While it remains unclear whether the Ortiz Mendez brothers had any direct ties to cartel activity or were motivated by religious beliefs, the brutality of the attack—one victim shot, another hacked with a machete—follows a pattern seen in cartel-related violence. In some cases, cartels have left severed heads at makeshift shrines as offerings to their patron saints, a chilling testament to the intersection of faith and crime in certain segments of Mexican society. However, DHS has not confirmed any such connection in this particular case.
The arrest of the Ortiz Mendez brothers also reignites debate about the portrayal of foreign criminals in American media and policy circles. McLaughlin criticized outlets that, in her view, downplay the threat posed by individuals with foreign convictions. "Thanks to ICE law enforcement, these monsters who are wanted for multiple murders are off our streets," she said. Her comments reflect a broader push by DHS to highlight the agency’s role in removing dangerous individuals—regardless of where their crimes occurred—from American communities.
ICE’s focus on what McLaughlin calls "the worst of the worst" extends beyond just murderers. The agency’s operations also target gang members, terrorists, human rights abusers, and child sexual predators, many of whom may have committed their offenses outside U.S. borders. According to a recent statement from DHS, "This means criminal illegal alien gang members, terrorists, human rights abusers, and child sexual predators who have committed crimes in other countries are excluded from the statistic"—the 70% figure often cited in public debates about immigration enforcement.
In the wake of the brothers’ arrest, DHS has called on Americans of all backgrounds to consider joining ICE, pitching the agency as a front-line defender of public safety and the rule of law. "DHS encourages Americans—with a commitment to public safety, national service, and upholding the rule of law—to apply today to join ICE and help DHS remove the worst of the worst," the agency announced, pointing readers to a recruitment website.
The case of Pedro and Jose Vicente Ortiz Mendez is a stark reminder of the complexities facing U.S. immigration enforcement in an era of globalized crime. As authorities work to balance public safety with due process and humanitarian concerns, the story of these two brothers—caught after a year on the run, accused of an unspeakable act—serves as a sobering example of the stakes involved. For now, at least, two men wanted for murder in Mexico are off the streets in Texas, the result of a cross-border manhunt that underscores both the challenges and the necessity of international cooperation in law enforcement.