United States Border Patrol announced this week that authorities have apprehended several nefarious individuals accused of entering the U.S. illegally, including a child molester, two convicted murderers, and three MS-13 gang members, in a string of arrests made at the U.S. southern border. The arrests were all made at the Rio Grande Valley Sector of the U.S.-Mexican border.
According to a press release issued by Customs and Border Protection, a Salvadoran national was arrested just after midnight amongst a group of men on January 12. The individual in question was determined to be a convicted murderer who had been arrested in January 2010. He had been sentenced to 10-25 years in prison on second-degree murder charges after being arrested in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is unclear when he was released from prison.
Likewise, on January 11 at the McAllen Border Patrol Station, agents “arrested a group of eight single adult illegal immigrants from Mexico and San Salvador near Schuerbach Road and Old Military Road in Mission, Texas.” After running background checks, it was discovered that one of the men had been “arrested in 2005 in Dallas for murder intentionally causing death, a first-degree felony.” The Salvadoran national was “identified as an MS-13 gang member.”
That same day, a Mexican national was identified as a convicted sex offender while being processed by authorities at Fort Brown Border Patrol Station after being caught sneaking into the country.
According to Border patrol, “in 2008, the 36-year-old illegal was arrested by the Dekalb County Police Department for criminal attempt to commit felony rape, aggravated assault, cruelty to children in the first degree, and obstructing or hindering persons making an emergency phone call.”
Ultimately, he was “convicted for sexual battery and obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency phone call and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.”
“The criminal illegal alien has a lengthy record to include multiple arrests for drug and alcohol-related offenses, as well as various assaults and thefts,” San Angelo Live added.
In a large group comprised of families, minors, and single adults, McAllen agents arrested 19 individuals and determined that one MS-13 gang member was traveling with the group. He was previously deported in 2015.
Finally, on January 12, McAllen agents again identified “a Salvadoran migrant as an MS-13 gang member. The 30-year-old was traveling with six adult illegal immigrants and one unaccompanied migrant child.” He had also been previously deported, though it is unclear when his removal from the U.S. occurred.
The arrests come just a week after The Daily Wire reported that the 2021 fiscal year was one of the worst in recent memory in terms of drug seizures and the number of unique encounters with unaccompanied children. Likewise, the data also note that there were 1.72 million enforcement encounters, which included 1.2 million repatriations. About 62% of those encountered trying to illegally cross the border were sent back to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
“The operational statistics for Fiscal Year 2021 show the breadth and scope of CBP’s mission, which encompasses travel and trade, drug interdiction, and border security,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said, according to The Daily Wire. “CBP’s mission is vital to making our country safer and more secure, and important to our economic recovery.”