U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a New Orleans Police Department recruit from Cameroon who was issued a firearm despite an active deportation order, just one week before he was set to graduate from the police academy.

ICE said in a press release Tuesday that 46-year-old Larry Temah was arrested Jan. 28 and remains in ICE custody.

The New Orleans Police Department recruited Temah and issued him a firearm despite federal law prohibiting illegal aliens from possessing firearms, according to ICE.

Temah entered the U.S. legally in 2015 on a visitor visa and was granted conditional residency the following year after marrying a U.S. citizen, ICE said.

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In 2022, his application for permanent residency was denied due to fraud.

Temah was ordered to appear in immigration court three times but failed to appear, resulting in an immigration judge ordering him removed from the country in absentia, ICE said.

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ICE also said Temah did not have valid work authorization and remains in custody pending removal proceedings.

“This illegal alien from Cameroon, Larry Temah, is not only breaking the law with every step he takes in this country illegally, but the New Orleans Police Department hired him and issued him a firearm — what kind of law enforcement department gives criminal illegal aliens guns and badges?” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “It’s a felony for illegal aliens to possess a firearm.”

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McLaughlin said ICE is restoring law and order under President Trump and Secretary Noem and accused sanctuary cities such as New Orleans of protecting illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens.

A spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department disputed ICE’s claims, calling them misleading.

“The New Orleans Police Department verified Mr. Temah’s employment eligibility through ICE’s E-Verify system prior to hiring and was never notified of any ICE detainer,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “New Orleans is not a sanctuary city, and NOPD does not control jail operations or detainer decisions, which fall under the Sheriff’s Office.”

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“Any claim that NOPD knowingly violated the law is false,” the spokesperson added.

A man accused of killing a Florida man and leaving his body inside a recycling bin has been arrested and extradited from Mexico, ending a months-long international manhunt, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office officials announced.

Alfredo Carballo Gonzalez, 32, was taken into custody by Mexican authorities on Jan. 27 and extradited to Miami, where homicide detectives arrested him the following day, the sheriff’s office said Thursday. Carballo Gonzalez’s immigration status was not immediately shared. Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE for details.

The arrest caps an investigation into the killing of Daylon Fleitas Gonzalez, who disappeared in early August 2025 after meeting with Carballo Gonzalez in Medley, Florida.

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Detectives said the two met on Aug. 3 near Northwest 106th Street and 95th Avenue, where Carballo Gonzalez entered the victim’s truck and an alleged altercation occurred.

According to WTVJ, citing court docs, Fleitas was meeting with Carballo Gonzalez to receive $10,000 that Carballo Gonzalez owed him.

According to investigators, Carballo Gonzalez was then seen placing a recycling bin into the bed of the truck and driving away. A second vehicle followed and was later identified as being driven by Ariely Alvarez Cabrera, Carballo Gonzalez’s girlfriend.

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Five days later, on Aug. 8, the department said that homicide detectives located the victim’s truck with multiple items of “evidentiary value” inside.

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During a canvass of the area, detectives found the recycling bin that had been transported in the truck, and Fleitas Gonzalez was found dead inside. Authorities allege that Carballo Gonzalez and Alvarez Cabrera fled with their 5-month-old baby.

Authorities did not say how or when Alvarez Cabrera and Carballo Gonzalez made their way to Mexico. 

Jail records show Carballo Gonzalez is facing charges of second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. Cabrera is also facing a charge of tampering with physical evidence, as well as a charge of accessory after the fact.

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Officials said that the baby was recovered safely and returned to Florida. Fox News Digital has reached out to Alvarez Cabrera’s attorney, Bijan Sebastian Parwaresch, for comment.

The illegal immigrant convicted of murdering nursing student Laken Riley sought a new trial Friday, with a judge declining to rule after hearing arguments.

Jose Ibarra, who is serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, appeared in Athens-Clarke County Superior Court, where Judge Patrick Haggard heard arguments from Ibarra’s post-conviction attorneys and declined to rule from the bench.

Haggard ordered both sides to submit supplementary briefs and responses by Monday, March 2, before he decides whether a new trial is warranted.

During the hearing, Haggard said a court-ordered mental evaluation reviewed by the court found Ibarra was competent at the time of the crime and during his 2024 trial, rejecting a central argument raised by the defense.

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The defense called Dr. Ruth Ballard, an expert in forensic serology and forensic DNA, whose testimony focused on physical evidence collected during the investigation and previously presented to the jury. Defense attorneys sought to cast doubt on evidence linking Ibarra to Riley’s murder and suggested alternative explanations for her death.

Ballard testified that a pair of bloodstained gloves recovered near Ibarra’s home contained mostly Laken Riley’s DNA, along with DNA from at least one other unidentified individual, but did not contain Ibarra’s DNA. She also testified that no male DNA was found on Riley’s sexual assault evidence kit.

On cross-examination, Prosecutor Sheila Ross challenged the defense’s suggestion that Ibarra’s older brother, Diego, could have committed the crime. Ballard confirmed that Y-STR testing showed the DNA found under Riley’s fingernails belonged to either Jose Ibarra or his brother Argenis, and that TRULEO testing identified the DNA as Jose Ibarra’s, excluding both Argenis and Diego.

Ballard also agreed that a victim fighting off her attacker and scratching him would likely have the attacker’s DNA under her fingernails. She testified that her conclusions were limited to forensic serology and DNA analysis, and did not take into account trace evidence, fingerprint evidence, or video evidence.

Ibarra was found guilty on all 10 counts in November 2024 for the Feb. 22, 2024, killing of Riley, 22, who was attacked while running on the University of Georgia campus. Prosecutors said Riley died during a violent struggle with Ibarra.

Riley was a student at Augusta University’s College of Nursing, which also maintains a campus in Athens, about 70 miles east of Atlanta.

Ibarra’s legal team has already obtained a mental evaluation as part of the appeals process, claiming he was not competent to stand trial. Friday’s hearing focused on whether alleged errors during the original proceedings justify a new trial.

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Federal immigration authorities previously said Ibarra entered the United States illegally in 2022 and was allowed to remain in the country while his immigration case was pending.

Riley’s murder became a central issue during President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, highlighting concerns about illegal immigration and violent crime. Last year, Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law, which requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of violent crimes or theft.

Ibarra is currently serving a life sentence without parole in a Georgia state prison.

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Fox News’ Samanatha Daigle contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.