U.S. Customs and Border Protection released a statement on Monday detailing how Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector were able to arrest four sex offenders who had just illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in under a week.
On January 7, Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station agents arrested Edgar Antonio Barajas-Granados, a registered sex offender, in Roma, Texas, a city that sees high levels of illegal border crossings. Barajas-Granados was arrested in Corpus Christi, Texas, for continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14.
"Later that year, the 20-year-old was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child and sentenced to 300 community service hours and 10 years’ probation. The Mexican national has a lengthy criminal record and has been previously removed from the United States," CBP said.
On Jan. 8, criminal records checks revealed a Mexican national who had illegally crossed into Mission, Texas was a sexual offender. He tried to avoid detection with nine other single adult illegal immigrants.
"The 36-year-old used a different alias for each arrest and had several listed in his record. In 2016, he was arrested for criminal sexual conduct with a victim between 13-15 years of age in Bloomington, Minnesota. He was convicted of the third-degree felony and sentenced to 36 months confinement and removed from the United States thereafter," CBP explained.
On January 9, CBP said they arrested a Guatemalan national who was identified as a convicted sex offender during processing at the Brownsville Border Patrol Station. The previously removed 35-year-old man was arrested in 2012 in Red Wood City, California, for sex with a minor under the age of 16 while being over 21 years old. He was convicted in 2013 and sentenced to 480 days’ confinement and eight months probation.
Also on January 9, Weslaco Border Patrol Station agents apprehended a group of eight single adult illegal immigrants in Progreso, Texas, where agents identified a sex offender through criminal records checks during processing.
"In 1997, the Mexican national was arrested by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office and charged with forcible sexual abuse. Ultimately, he was convicted of morals-decency crimes and gross lewdness. He was sentenced to one-year confinement."
Elsewhere along the southern border, Chief Patrol Agent Chris Clem of the Yuma Sector tweeted last week agents had arrested two sex offenders over the holiday weekend:
#USBP #YumaSector agents arrested two sex offenders over the holiday weekend. Luis Morales-Diaz, 59, and Humberto Pacheco-Casas, 36, both migrants from Mexico, were convicted of sex-related crimes against a minor. They will be prosecuted for re-entering the U.S. pic.twitter.com/traIhp9449
— Chief Patrol Agent Chris T. Clem (@USBPChiefYUM) January 6, 2022