Deported Criminal Migrant Arrests Continue Along Southwest Border

Border Patrol agents continue to arrest previously deported criminal aliens as they attempt to illegally re-enter the United States. Many of those arrested include violent criminals and sex offenders — including child sex offenders.

On Friday, Tucson Sector agents arrested a 38-year-old Guatemalan national who illegally crossed the border south of Sells, Arizona. During a biometric background investigation at the station, agents identified the migrant as Edin Francisco Gamez-Barrios, according to information obtained from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials.

Records show that a court in Montgomery County, Maryland, convicted Gamez-Barrios in 2015 on charges related to drug distribution. The court sentenced him to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release, officials stated. Immigration officers deported the Guatemalan national on July 3, 2017. Less than six months later, Border Patrol agents arrest him illegally re-entering the U.S.

He now faces federal felony charges for illegal re-entry after removal and is being held in a federal detention facility.

One day earlier, Rio Grande Valley Sector agents in Texas arrested a Salvadoran national after he illegally crossed the border from Mexico. During a records check, agents discovered an arrest by the Los Angeles Police Department for a “sexual offense on a child under 14,” officials reported. A California court convicted the man, not identified by CBP officials, and sentenced him to three years in state prison.

On December 11, Rio Grande City Border Patrol agents also arrested a Guatemalan migrant. During a biometric background investigation, agents identified the migrant as Ronel Esau De Leon-Baltazar. Records show that a court in Plano, Texas, convicted the Guatemalan national for Child Sexual Contact, officials stated. The court sentenced the man to four years in a Texas prison.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to the Calexico Station encountered a migrant they believed to have illegally crossed the border from Mexico into California just west of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry. During a background investigation, the agents identified the man as Rodrigo Munoz-Venegas, a 28-year-old legal permanent resident who had been deported following a conviction by a White County, Indiana, court in 2014. The court found Munoz guilty of felony child molestation. Immigration officers deported him after he served his sentence.

During the first few months of Fiscal Year 2020, which began on October 1, El Centro Sector agents arrested 11 people with convictions or warrants for sexual assault charges, officials stated.