Escaped U.S. Prisoners Try to Fake Being Illegal Immigrants to Get Deported

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two men who escaped from a federal prison system in Florence, Colorado, Wednesday. The men told Border Patrol agents they were illegal immigrants, apparently hoping to be deported under Coronavirus protection protocols.

Tucson Sector agents patrolling west of Sells, Arizona, on Wednesday evening conducted an immigration stop on a 2010 Nissan Titan. The agents interviewed a woman and two adult men, according to information provided by Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials.

The two male passengers told the Border Patrol agents they were illegal immigrants “wishing to be returned to Mexico.” Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call for nearly all apprehended migrants to be removed to Mexico after a medical screening and criminal background investigation.

Under further questioning, the two men finally admitted to being U.S. citizens who escaped from the federal prison earlier that day. Officials reported that 35-year-old Jose Rodriguez and 42-year-old Raul Guzman escaped while serving multiyear sentences on drug charges. The agents arrested the men and the female driver and turned them over to the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to KDVR, the two men were convicted on charges out of San Franciso related to methamphetamine. The federal court sentenced Rodriguez to a 72-month term and Guzman to a 120-month term. The article did not disclose how much time remained on the sentences for the two escapees.

The men escaped a minimum-security federal facility located next to the Federal Correctional Institution in Florence, the article stated.

Their escape came to light after a prison employee found prisoner clothing along the roadway near the camp. Correctional officers initiated an emergency headcount and determined two men had escaped at about 6 a.m. on Wednesday. The Border Patrol agents stopped their escape about 12 hours later.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.