More than 17,500 illegal aliens with criminal records were captured in the first year of the Laken Riley Act, the first law that President Donald Trump signed after taking office this year to honor a Georgia nursing student slain by a migrant unlawfully in the United States.

The first-year tally was announced this week by the Homeland Security Department just as it was ending Operation Angel’s Honor, a 14-day nationwide roundup of more than 1,030 criminal illegal aliens.

“In honor of Laken Riley, ICE launched Operation Angel’s Honor – in the last 2 weeks alone arresting more than 1,000 criminal illegal aliens under the authority of the Laken Riley Act.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. “President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens unleashed on the United States by the previous administration.

"Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country. We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice. I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets," she added.

The law passed by Congress mandates the federal arrest of illegal immigrants accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury.

It was named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed by José Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela and member of the Tren de Aragua gang who was previously arrested and released under New York City's laws under the Biden administration in September 2022.

In his speech to Congress in March, Trump paid tribute to Laken Riley and her family and said the law he signed would make sure her death was not in vain.

“Laken was stolen from us by a savage, illegal alien gang member who was arrested while trespassing across Biden’s southern border and then sent to the United States under the heartless policies of that failed administration,”Trump said.

“Last year, I told Laken’s grieving parents that we would ensure their daughter would not have died in vain,” he added.