McALLEN, Texas — Illegal Immigrants with drug or violent convictions continue to move into south Texas as court documents reveal many commit even more crimes.
On Monday, federal authorities saw 12 new felony cases in federal court, out of those cases, 10 were by illegal immigrants with prior convictions. In many of the cases, local police arrest the individuals on unrelated charges and then federal authorities move in to charge them in federal court. During the hearings this week, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby read the illegal immigrants their charges and ordered they be held without bond pending further court hearings.
One of the first cases was the arrest of Epigmenio Nieto Hernandez, a four-time deportee who had last been removed in late August. Less than two months after his deportation, Nieto Hernandez was back in Texas until he was arrested by local sheriff’s deputies in Starr County. Nieto Hernandez appears to have been able to get out of serving a 16 month federal prison sentence that he received last June for being an alien in possession of a firearm.
In another case, local cops arrested Agustin Ricardo Casanova Hernandez on an unrelated charge and took him to the Hidalgo County Jail. Eight days after his initial arrest, immigration officers took custody of Casanova after confirming that he was in the country illegally, less than two months after having been deported. His previous removal took place after he served six years in prison for three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
A separate case dealt with the arrest of Jose Garcia Malpica, a previously deported illegal immigrant who spent 10 years in prison in connection with smuggling 3,000 pounds of marijuana. Local police in Donna, Texas arrested Garcia Malpica for an unrelated charge.
Judge Ormsby also heard the matter of Abel Sanchez Sanchez, a previously convicted drug trafficker who was deported on October 31 and was arrested by U.S, Border Patrol four days later. Sanchez had been convicted on marijuana smuggling charges and received a six month prison term followed by 48 months of probation.
Salvadoran illegal immigrant Buenaventura Mendoza was convicted on assault charges in 2012 and had received a 10 -year prison sentence, however he was deported in January 2015. Border Patrol agents found him last Friday in Roma, Texas.
Two days after being deported on November 1, Horacio Galvan Ramirez made his way back into Texas where he was later arrested by Border Patrol agents in the border city of Hidalgo. Galvan Ramirez was convicted last year on burglary charges.
Jose Jaime Pineda was convicted of choking and assaulting his wife in 2008. His most recent deportation took place in October 27–by November 5, he was arrested again in Hidalgo.
Three other cases dealing with previously deported illegal immigrants were individuals with new felony re-entry charges.
The other two felony hearings on Monday focused on a man trying to smuggle weapon parts into Mexico while two American women were arrested allegedly trying to smuggle six illegal immigrants near the border town of Donna, Texas.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project and you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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