Deported Sex Offenders Continue Exploitation of Unsecured Border

Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio and El Centro Sectors stopped three previously deported sex offenders from successfully re-entering the U.S. from Mexico. Previously deported criminal aliens continue to exploit weaknesses in our nation’s unsecured border.

Agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Station stopped two previously deported sex offenders in as many days earlier this week. Agents arrested a 35-year-old Honduran man after he illegally crossed the border. All migrants arrested by Border Patrol agents are subjected to a biometric background investigation to determine prior criminal and immigration history as well as gang affiliation.

The agents transported the Honduran man arrested on May 7 to the station where the background investigation uncovered a criminal conviction, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials. A Virginia court convicted the migrant for four counts of sexual crimes against a child. After serving a five-year sentence handed down by the court, immigration officers deported the man in April 2010.

The following day, Eagle Pass agents arrested a 34-year-old Honduran man after he illegally crossed the unsecured border. A biometric background investigation uncovered a conviction by a court in Brookhaven, Georgia, in 2016 for child molestation. The court sentenced the man to 18 months in confinement. Immigration officers deported the Honduran migrant in 2018 after he completed his sentence.

Our agents remain vigilant and committed to safeguarding our communities,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “Convicted criminal aliens often try to avoid detection by exploiting the current immigrant crisis at our borders to illegally enter our country, and in many cases will return to the communities where they perpetrated their crimes.”

Elsewhere on the border that same day, El Centro Sector agents assigned to the Calexico Station observed a man illegally crossing the border. The crossing occurred about 18 miles west of the Calexico Port of Entry, officials reported.

The agents arrested the migrant and transported him to the Calexico Station for processing. Agents identified the Mexican man as 30-year-old Bernardino Sanchez-Perea. Criminal records show that a Skagit County, Washington, court convicted the Mexican national for sex with a minor three-years-old or younger. The court sentenced the man to 15 months in jail. Immigration officers deported the man to Mexico in 2011.

All three of the previously deported criminal alien sex offenders face new federal charges under 8 USC § 1326 – re-entry after deportation. If convicted, each could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.