A three-time deported illegal alien charged with murdering 55-year-old Jackie Vigil in 2019 is now facing federal immigration charges for repeatedly illegally entering the United States.

In November 2019, Jacqueline Vigil was leaving her Alberquerque, New Mexico, home with plans to go to the gym when she was murdered in her driveway in her car. Vigil was the mother of two New Mexico State Police officers and worked at a daycare center.

Photo of Jacqueline Vigil via Facebook.

Luis Talamantes, a three-time deported illegal alien and alleged gang member from Mexico, is in federal custody in Texas and was charged with murdering Vigil in November 2020. Four associates of Talamantes’ are facing federal charges as well.

Now, Talamantes is facing additional federal immigration charges for repeatedly illegally re-entering the U.S. Prosecutors are hoping a judge sentences Talamantes to 20 years in prison for the illegal re-entry charges, citing his illegal possession of a firearm.

“This heinous crime should never have happened, and more and more illegal immigrants are being allowed into our state,” New Mexico GOP Chairman Steve Pearce said in a statement. “There are laws to keep criminals out, but Talamantes crossed the border illegally.”

Talamantes’ defense attorney suggested that his client is likely to plead not guilty to murdering Vigil. The illegal alien is expected to be sentenced on the federal immigration charges at the end of the month.

In January, as Breitbart News reported, Angel Husband Sam Vigil filed a lawsuit against the city of Alberquerque for shielding Talamantes from arrest and deportation despite his extensive criminal record that included four illegal re-entries into the U.S., domestic violence, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and firing a gun from a moving vehicle.

The lawsuit accuses the city of Albuquerque of protecting Talamantes with a sanctuary city policy that has been in place since 2018. When Talamantes was identified as a suspect in a robbery months before Vigil’s murder, local law enforcement should have notified federal immigration officials that the illegal alien had returned illegally to the U.S. for the fourth time, the lawsuit states.

For eight months, the hunt for Vigil’s killer had gone nowhere. Then, agents with former President Trump’s “Operation Legend” stepped in to help local law enforcement track Vigil’s killer, ultimately leading them to Talamantes.

“What’s also sad is that the failed Democratic leadership in Albuquerque at the time was unable to make an arrest,” Pearce said.” It wasn’t until Operation Legend under the Trump Administration that we saw results. That initiative poured federal resources and manpower into Albuquerque and authorities found Jackie’s killer.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.