Multiple Child Sex Offenders, Criminal Aliens Arrested After Crossing SW Border

Border Patrol agents in the southwest continue to arrest large numbers of previously deported criminal aliens. Many committed sex offenses against minors.

Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin tweeted a photo of a Mexican national arrested by Douglas Station agents this week. During a biometric background investigation agents identified the migrant as victor Castaneda-Torres. The Mexican national received a conviction from a California court for lewd and lascivious acts with a child under the age of 14 and unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.

In South Texas, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested four deported sex offenders — three with convictions for sex crimes against children.

Rio Grande City Station agents arrested Edgar Antonio Barajas-Granados, a Mexican national, after he illegally re-entered the United States on January 7 near Roma, Texas. A background check revealed that a Texas court in Corpus Christi for sexual assault of a child. The conviction followed his arrest on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14. The court sentenced the 20-year-old Mexican national to 300 hours of community service and ten years of probation.

Officials report the man has a lengthy criminal record including being deported by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers.

Two days later, Brownsville Station agents arrested a Guatemalan migrant with a conviction by a California court in 2012 for sex with a minor under the age of 16 while being over 21 years old. The court sentenced the 35-year-old migrant in 2013 and sentenced him to 480 days in jail and eight months of probation. He was subsequently deported.

McAllen Station agents conducted criminal background checks on a group of nine migrants arrested on January 8 near Mission, Texas. The agents identified one of the men as a 36-year-old Mexican national with a conviction in 2016 by a Minnesota court for criminal sexual conduct with a victim between the ages of 13 and 15, officials reported. The court sentenced the Mexican man to 36 months confinement. ERO officers subsequently deported the migrants following the completion of his sentence.

Weslaco Station agents arrested a group of eight migrants near Progreso, Texas, on January 9. While processing the group, agents found that one of the men, a Mexican national, received a conviction from a Utah court for morals-decency crimes and gross lewdness. The conviction followed his arrest for forcible sexual abuse. The court sentenced the man to one year in prison.

Elsewhere in Texas, Laredo Sector agents patrolling northwest of the border city of Laredo, arrested 54-year-old Jose Padilla-Yepez, a Mexican national. During a background check, agents discovered a conviction from a Wisconsin court for battery. The agents also found an extensive criminal history including convictions for burglary, sexual assault, battery, and illegal re-entry after deportation. He also received a conviction for 2nd-degree murder in 1989 from a Dallas court.

In the Yuma Sector, agents arrested two Mexican migrants, Luis Morales-Diaz (59) and Humberto Pacheco-Casas (36), with criminal convictions for sex-related crimes against children, Chief Patrol Agent Chris Clem tweeted.

The previously deported criminal aliens listed above face prosecution in federal court for illegal re-entry after removal — a felony. If convicted, each could face up to 20 years in federal prison.