HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Federal immigration authorities lodged detainers against three Cuban illegal immigrants arrested during a human trafficking investigation in Sumner County that netted five suspects and identified nine potential victims, ICE announced.
The three — Alinson Guerrero-Ramirez, Bryan Duany Rodriguez-Pena, and Lazaro Rodriguez-Santos — were each encountered and released into the United States under the Biden administration’s border policies before their arrests on charges of promoting prostitution. All five men were booked into the Sumner County Jail.
“Human trafficking is a cruel crime that exploits vulnerable people for profit,” said acting ICE Director David J. Venturella. “By working alongside our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, ICE is helping dismantle criminal organizations, protecting victims, and helping hold criminal illegal aliens accountable for exploiting others.”
Customs and Border Protection first encountered Duany Rodriguez-Pena on June 5, 2021, as part of a group of 11 people who crossed the Rio Grande into the United States illegally. A Border Patrol agent encountered Rodriguez-Santos near Yuma, Arizona, in November 2021. Guerrero-Ramirez first entered the country illegally in 2023 at the Brownsville, Texas, port of entry, where CBP issued him a notice to appear and paroled him into the United States under the Biden administration’s catch-and-release policy.
The operation was led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and its Human Trafficking Unit, with support from the Tennessee Human Trafficking Task Force, the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, the Hendersonville Police Department, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations Nashville, and the Internal Revenue Service. ICE issued detainers June 12 requesting that local law enforcement turn the three illegal immigrants over to federal custody rather than release them to the public.
The nine individuals identified as possible trafficking victims were offered services through a local victim service organization. ICE urged members of the public to report crimes and suspicious activity by calling 866-DHS-2-ICE or submitting tips online.