U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it has arrested more than 350 suspected gang members during a six-month sweep in Texas, part of an ongoing nationwide initiative dubbed Operation Take Back America. The detainees, many linked to groups such as MS-13, Latin Kings and Tango Blast, collectively carried some 1,700 criminal convictions and had re-entered the United States illegally roughly 1,400 times, according to preliminary agency figures. The crackdown also netted a smaller group of nine foreign nationals from Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica whom the Department of Homeland Security labeled “the worst of the worst.” Those individuals include a fentanyl trafficker convicted in Massachusetts and a man found guilty of vehicular homicide in Iowa, as well as several offenders convicted of sexually assaulting children. In a related action, ICE this week took custody of 26 fugitives extradited from Mexico who are wanted in U.S. courts on charges ranging from drug trafficking and kidnapping to murder and human smuggling. Officials said the transfers were coordinated with Mexican authorities and form part of broader efforts to remove violent offenders who have repeatedly crossed the southwest border. Gabriel Martinez, acting director of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston, said the agency intends to “protect American communities from violent crime” by prioritizing high-risk offenders for arrest and deportation. ICE did not disclose when removal proceedings for the latest detainees will be completed.