ICE arrests Vietnamese national shielded from deportation for 15 years
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United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested a Vietnamese national convicted of attempting to murder a police officer who spent more than 15 years at large in the country because his home country refused to take him back.
The case underscores a broader shift in U.S. deportation policy targeting previously protected foreign nationals with criminal convictions.
Dinh Quy Nguyen, who was convicted of attempted murder of a police officer and theft on June 28, 1989, was taken into custody in Houston, Texas, on May 5, 2026. Although he was ordered deported in 1997, Nguyen was released in 2011 after Vietnam refused to take him back.
For more than a decade, Nguyen was considered “untouchable” by immigration officials. Under a previous agreement, the United States could not repatriate Vietnamese citizens who arrived in the country before July 12, 1995. Because Nguyen arrived on December 15, 1977, he was effectively protected from deportation despite a violent criminal record.
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Dinh Quy Nguyen (pictured) was convicted of attempted murder of a police officer and robbery on June 28, 1989. (Department of Homeland Security)
“As we celebrate Police Week, the men and women of ICE law enforcement are removing this illegal alien, convicted of attempting to murder a police officer, from our communities so he can no longer victimize Americans,” Acting Deputy Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. he said.
“This criminal illegal alien from Vietnam was also previously convicted of theft. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, we will always stand up for our brave ICE law enforcement officers who risk their lives to apprehend heinous criminals in American neighborhoods.”
The arrest marks a significant change in practice under President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, according to DHS officials. DHS officials say the latest policy changes are aimed at removing long-standing barriers that allow certain convicted felons to remain in the United States.
Nguyen’s history in the United States spans almost five decades. It was first admitted to the United States in 1977 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was issued a final deportation order by an immigration judge on December 30, 1997, and the order was approved by the Board of Immigration Appeals on May 26, 1998.
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On March 17, 2011, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice took Nguyen into ICE custody. (John Moore/Getty Images)
On March 17, 2011, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice took Nguyen into ICE custody, but he was released on June 22, 2011 because he refused to be repatriated to Vietnam.
ICE agents are participating in an enforcement operation. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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The Department of Homeland Security said the renewed enforcement effort is part of a broader initiative to ensure “heinous criminals” no longer victimize Americans over diplomatic technicalities.
Nguyen is currently being held at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, pending deployment to Vietnam.
