Two Convicted Sex Offenders Arrested Crossing Border into California

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended two previously deported sex offenders as they attempted to make their way into California over the weekend. The arrests happened in separate incidents east and west of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry.

El Centro Station Border Patrol agents encountered a man they believed had just illegally crossed the border from Mexicali, Mexico, into the U.S. The agents apprehended the man approximately 3 miles west of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry shortly after noon on Friday, according to information obtained from El Centro Sector Border Patrol officials.

The agents transported the migrant to the El Centro Station for processing and a biometric background investigation. During processing, the agents identified the man as 52-year-old Ricardo Saucedo-Hernandez, a Mexican national.

A criminal records check revealed that a court in Perris, California, convicted the man in April 2003 for “Annoying or Molesting a Child Under 18,” officials stated. The court sentenced the Mexican man to 120 days in jail and a fine. An immigration judge previously ordered Saucedo removed from the U.S. on September 11, 2017.

On Sunday morning, shortly after midnight, agents assigned to the Calexico Station encountered another man they believed to have entered the U.S. illegally. The agents placed him in custody approximately 16 miles east of the Calexico West Downtown Port of Entry, officials reported. The agents transported the migrant to the El Centro Station for processing.

During a biometric background investigation, the agents identified the man as 37-year-old Armando Valenzuela-Salazar, also a Mexican national. During a search of the man’s criminal history, the agents found that a Greenville, North Carolina, court convicted Valenzuela in 2011 for “Sexual Battery,” officials stated. The court sentenced him to 50 days in jail.

An immigration judge ordered that he be removed from the U.S. on March 14, 2011.

Both subjects are being held pending prosecution for immigration violations.

El Centro Border Patrol officials report that so far this fiscal year (October through January), their agents arrested and removed 23 migrants who were either convicted or wanted on sexual offense charges. The agents stopped these sexual predators from making their way back into the U.S. interior.