Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Tennessee arrested three Guatemalan nationals accused of stealing Americans’ identities and Social Security numbers to get jobs illegally, with one suspect already facing a prior deportation order.
Story Snapshot
- ICE agents detained three Guatemalan nationals in Tennessee on August 4 over alleged identity theft and Social Security fraud.
- Each suspect faces charges of aggravated identity theft, misuse of Social Security numbers, and false citizenship statements tied to unlawful employment.
- One victim, a New York resident, reportedly discovered her Social Security number was linked to wages earned by a suspect working in Tennessee.
- One arrestee, Eulalia Ordoñez-Carmelo, already had a removal order issued by an immigration judge back in 2023.
What ICE Says Happened In Tennessee
ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office in New Orleans confirmed the arrests through an official statement, saying the three individuals used stolen identities and Social Security numbers to work illegally in Tennessee. The agency’s charging language is blunt: aggravated identity theft, misuse of Social Security numbers, and false statements about citizenship made to secure employment. These are not vague accusations. They point to a specific pattern of fraud that federal prosecutors treat seriously nationwide.
The suspects were taken into custody on August 4, according to reporting tied directly to ICE’s own case summary. One of the three, identified as Magdalena Gómez-García, allegedly used a New York woman’s identity to get hired by a Tennessee employer. The real identity owner reportedly found out only after noticing unfamiliar wages showing up under her own Social Security number.
A Repeat Immigration Case Already In The System
Court history adds weight to the case against one defendant. Eulalia Ordoñez-Carmelo had already been cited, released on her own recognizance, and then ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge back on February 27, 2023. That order predates this new criminal case entirely, meaning she was still in the country years after a judge told her to leave.
A second defendant, Elias Gomez-Garcia, has a documented trail of traffic violations in both South Carolina and Kentucky. None of that rises to the level of the federal fraud charges now filed, but it shows these were not first-time encounters with law enforcement. ICE’s public statement made clear the agency views this as a coordinated identity-theft scheme, not a single isolated incident.
Why Federal Prosecutors Treat This Charge So Seriously
Aggravated identity theft is not just another criminal charge tacked onto a case. Under federal law, a conviction carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence that must run consecutively, added on top of any other sentence. The Supreme Court settled a key question in Flores-Figueroa v. United States, ruling that prosecutors must prove a defendant knew the identification belonged to a real, specific person. That legal standard raises the bar for conviction but also means the charge is reserved for cases with real, provable victims.
This Tennessee case fits a pattern federal agencies have prosecuted for years. In 2025, an investigation out of Florida led to 18 people facing the exact same trio of charges: aggravated identity theft, Social Security misuse, and false citizenship claims tied to jobs. Court records from other cases show sentences ranging from four years to nearly ten, depending on the scope of fraud and number of victims involved. The legal framework exists because Social Security fraud does not stay contained. It bleeds into tax records, wage reports, and benefit eligibility for the real person whose number gets stolen.
The thing that Democrats say NEVER happens… keeps happening AGAIN AND AGAIN!! ICE just locked up three Guatemalan illegal aliens in Tennessee for using stolen American Social Security numbers!!!
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Federal agents arrested Magdalena Gomez-Garcia, Elias Gomez-Garcia, and Eulalia… pic.twitter.com/KfY0KjgLSz— Blue Lives Matter (@bluelivesmtr) September 5, 2026
What Happens Next For The Three Defendants
The case now moves through the federal system, where prosecutors will need to build on ICE’s initial allegations with formal charging documents. An arrest is not a conviction, and these three defendants have not been found guilty of anything in court. Still, the underlying facts ICE has laid out, a repeat removal order, a documented identity-theft victim, and formal federal charges, tell a clear story about how this investigation unfolded in Tennessee.
For the American whose Social Security number reportedly got used without her knowledge, the damage is already done regardless of how the criminal case resolves. Wage records tied to her number now carry someone else’s employment history, a mess that often takes victims months or years to untangle with the Social Security Administration. That real cost to real Americans is exactly why federal law treats this crime as more than a paperwork violation.
Sources:
thegatewaypundit.com, lahora.gt, ice.gov, presidentialprayerteam.org, nashvillebanner.com
