TCU student arrested in Arlington was deported to El Salvador, DHS confirms

A Texas Christian University student was deported to El Salvador following his arrest in Arlington late last month, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.

Lambda Theta Phi, the Latin fraternity of which the student was a member, identified him as 20-year-old Luis Omar Andrade Garcia in a Tuesday statement.

Prior to his deportation, Garcia had been living in the United States since the age of 3, DHS officials said Wednesday.

Andrade was arrested June 27 and charged with disorderly conduct and fleeing a police officer, according to online court records from the Tarrant County district clerk.

Arlington police officers attempted to stop Andrade’s vehicle at a city park in the 1300 block of Dugan Street at around 10 p.m. that night, and he fled, according to the public version of an Arlington police report.

The case was pleaded down to a class C misdemeanor, which is the least-severe category of criminal offense in Texas, Andrade’s attorney Jessica Warren said via phone Tuesday. Misdemeanors of that degree are only punishable by fines not more than $500, according to section 12.23 of the Texas Penal Code.

Speeding, running a red light, and getting a parking ticket are all class C misdemeanors.

Andrade paid roughly $200 in fines and court costs and his case was waived on July 8 with deferred adjudication and six months of community supervision, according to Tarrant County court records. The court documents note that Andrade was given an immigration warning that if he was not a citizen, the guilty plea could result in deportation.

After he was arrested, Andrade was transferred to the Tarrant County Jail with an immigration hold on him from the Department of Homeland Security, officials with the Arlington Police Department said.

Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn announced in January that the county would participate in a state grant program intended to offset the cost of collaborating with the federal government on deportations. Fund disbursement for that grant program began in March.

“The last time we spoke with Luis, he was detained at the Central Louisiana ICE Processing Center,” the fraternity’s statement reads. “Unfortunately at the time of this writing we fear Luis Andrade could have been deported.”

Andrade was removed to El Salvador on Tuesday, July 21, officials with DHS confirmed Wednesday.

He initially entered the United States near Hidalgo, Texas in July 2009, when he was 3 years old, according to a DHS statement. An immigration judge ordered his removal in March 2010, and there are no indications his family applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status for him, officials said.

“Enforcing immigration law is not optional and is essential to protecting America’s national security, public safety, and economic strength,” DHS officials said. “Operations are conducted lawfully within the authority granted to immigration officers under Title 8.”

Andrade attended Arlington’s Sam Houston High School and graduated as valedictorian in 2024, according to the fraternity.

Andrade is a double major in accounting and business information systems at TCU and has been awarded multiple scholarships, according to the statement. Since joining the university’s Beta Pi chapter in the spring of 2025, Andrade has become “deeply involved in campus life” and serves as a mentor to young people in the community.

“We respectfully request that Luis Omar Andrade Garcia be returned to the state of Texas,” fraternity officials wrote in their statement. The fraternity is launching a national week of action aimed at raising awareness about Andrade’s case, including phonebanks and a GoFundMe for his legal expenses, according to an Instagram post.

Texas Christian University officials said in an email Wednesday that they were working to gather more information on the situation.