Dangerous Deported Migrants Arrested at Border Attempting Illegal Re-Entry

Border Patrol agents in multiple sectors arrested several previously deported criminal aliens and dangerous gang members attempting to illegally cross the border from Mexico.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported sex offender on December 4 after he illegally crossed the border near Lukeville, Arizona. The agents, while patrolling the border in the desert, encountered a Mexican man who had just illegally crossed the border.

Agents arrested the man and transported him to the station where a biometric background investigation identified him as 48-year-old Romualdo Gregorio Felipe. A records check revealed that an Indiana County, Pennsylvania court convicted the Mexican national in 2015 on a charge of Indecent Assault on a Person Less Than 13 Years of Age, according to information obtained from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials. The court sentenced the man to only 125 days in jail. Immigration officers deported him to Mexico later that year.

That same day, Yuma Sector agents patrolling the Colorado River apprehended two migrants who had illegally entered the U.S. Officials stated one of the men came from Guatemala, the other from Mexico.

The background check on the migrants identified the Guatemalan man as 35-year-old Vini Santos-Lopez. Records reveal a conviction from a Plainfield, New Jersey court for sexual assault of a minor under 13. Immigration officers removed him after he completed a six-year prison sentence.

Calexico Station Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Centro Sector on December 2 arrested a man who illegally crossed the border at about 5:45 a.m. approximately 3.5 miles east of the Calexico West Port of Entry. A biometric background investigation carried out at the station revealed the migrant, Jesus Faustino Garcia-Chavez, a 35-year-old Mexican national, to be a member of the violent Sureño gang. Immigration records show that immigration officers removed him from the U.S. on at least 11 occasions, officials stated. His most recent deportation came in November 2011.

Del Rio Sector agents assigned to the Uvalde Station on December 1 apprehended another previously deported Mexican nationals with a child sex offense. The biometric background investigation identified the man as 29-year-old as Jose Eduardo Mejia-Diaz. A court in Lea County, New Mexico, convicted the Mexican national in 2010 on a charge of criminal sexual penetration in the second degree, Officials said the victim was between the ages of 13 and 16. The court sentenced the man to 15 years in state prison. Immigration officers deported Mejia-Diaz from the U.S. in 2017.

“Aggravated felons, like this one, are a prime example of the dangerous individuals our agents come across on a daily basis,” Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “They often try to conceal themselves in any way possible as they attempt to return to the communities where they committed their crimes.”

Each of the previously deported criminal aliens now face federal prosecution for felony re-entry after removal. If convicted, each man could face up to 20 years in federal prison.