EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Border agents staffing a checkpoint in Southern New Mexico arrested two “dangerous” felons who were in the country illegally, according to a Border Patrol news release.
Border agents said they spotted an individual trying to circumvent the checkpoint Thursday morning north of Las Cruces. When approached, the man reportedly admitted to being in the country illegally. Agents checked his criminal record and determined that he had been a permanent resident of the U.S. until he completed an 18-year sentence for armed robbery, aggravated battery, kidnapping, and false imprisonment, and was deported in 2016.
On Wednesday, border agents from the same checkpoint stopped an alien-smuggling attempt. Agents discovered that one of the immigrants from Mexico was a registered sex offender. The man had been convicted of committing sexual offenses against his 14-year-old stepchild in North Carolina. In April 2019, the man was sentenced to 29 months’ incarceration and 30 months of supervised probation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subsequently deported him to Mexico.
“In the last few days, Border Patrol agents assigned to our Texas and New Mexico immigration checkpoints have excelled at their primary mission of securing our nation’s border and keeping our border communities safe,” Gloria Chavez, the interim chief for the Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector, said in a statement.
Both subjects will remain in custody pending criminal and immigration prosecution for their prior order of removal and criminally prosecuted for illegal re-entry.
