Immigration and Customs Enforcement's arrest of a Brazilian national wanted for a horrific sex crime against a minor only began the deportation process.

Newsmax cameras received rare behind-the-scenes access to follow the removal of Brazilian fugitive Denny Marucci from a Florida detention facility to a deportation flight that returned him to Brazil, where authorities were waiting to take him into custody to begin serving a prison sentence for raping a young child.

The exclusive report by Newsmax crime correspondent Jason Mattera highlighted what ICE officials describe as the Trump administration's focus on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from the U.S.

Marucci, 55, was arrested June 9 after authorities tracked him to Tampa, Florida, where he had allegedly been living illegally after overstaying the 90-day limit of the Visa Waiver Program he entered while using an Italian passport.

"He entered under the Visa Waiver Program. He overstayed that," one ICE officer said in Mattera's report.

Officials said Marucci concealed a conviction in Brazil for raping a 4-year-old girl.

After being sentenced to more than 20 years in prison, authorities say he fled to the U.S. instead of serving his sentence.

"He was already convicted of raping a 4-year-old," an ICE officer said. "Sentenced to more than two decades in a Brazilian prison, ends up here staying illegally. Seems like a good candidate to get out of the United States."

Mattera previously embedded with ICE's Tampa Bay Fugitive Task Force during the June 9 arrest, documenting agents locating Marucci living near a neighborhood playground and pool.

Seventeen days later, Newsmax cameras again accompanied ICE as Marucci was transferred from Baker Correctional Institution to a deportation flight staging area in North Florida.

Deputy Field Office Director David Grady said ICE carefully prioritizes dangerous offenders.

"I think the biggest misconception of ICE is that we just go around picking up people without any forward thinking or planning," Grady said.

"We spend a lot of time targeting illegal aliens, running criminal histories, running background checks, and making proper decisions with the resources that we have."

Grady also rejected criticism that illegal immigrants are denied legal protection.

"Aliens are given a lot of due process," he said. "They have an opportunity to see an immigration judge with appeal rights all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court."

However, Grady said Marucci waived many of those rights by entering through the Visa Waiver Program.

"We're going to put him on his way back home to Brazil to serve the rest of his 20-year sentence," Grady said. "And we'll go out and get some more criminal aliens."

Mattera reported Marucci was first flown from Florida to Louisiana before boarding an ICE removal flight carrying Brazilian nationals back to Brazil.

Upon landing, Brazilian authorities immediately took him into custody to begin serving the prison sentence he evaded while living illegally in the U.S.

The operation comes as the Trump administration has directed ICE to prioritize the arrest and removal of criminal illegal immigrants, with officials emphasizing that fugitives convicted of violent crimes remain among the agency's highest enforcement priorities.