TUCSON — From Friday to Monday, six illegal immigrants who crossed the border were found to have records for sexual offenses, and five of those were taken into custody in Cochise County.
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Throughout the sector, “we are seeing in increase of illegals with criminal records, especially sex offenders,” he said.
On Monday morning, Border Patrol agents from the Naco Station arrested a Mexican man who had a warrant out of California, Scioli said.
According to law enforcement records, the unidentified Mexican national was charged with willful cruelty of a child and sexual intercourse with a minor, he said.
However, it is unknown if the man fled back into Mexico before being taken into custody in California and then decided to re-enter the United States, hoping he would not be caught, the spokesman said. The man is being processed and referred for prosecution.
Naco Station agents also took a Honduran national into custody on Sunday who was previously convicted of being a sex offender in Georgia, according to a Tucson Sector press release.
That person was convicted of statutory rape, disorderly conduct and simple battery, the release stated.
On Saturday, agents from the sector’s Douglas Station discovered another Mexican national who had been convicted in California for kidnapping and sexual assault, according to the release.
The individual is being prosecuted for illegal re-entry of an aggravated felon.
Also on Saturday, another individual from Mexico was taken into custody by Douglasagents.
and found to have convictions for rape and assault in Nebraska and Washington, the release stated. The individual is being processed for prosecution.
Friday, Douglas Station agents apprehended another Mexican national with prior convictions in Michigan for sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual contact. He is being processed for prosecution, according to the news release.
The non-Cochise County apprehension of a Mexican national with a criminal record took place on Sunday by agents from the Border Patrol’s Casa Grande Station.
That individual had been charged with sexual assault of a minor in Florida and he was being processed and referred for prosecution, according to the press release.
“The increase of those with criminal records is surprising us,” he said of the apprehensions.
While in the past those who were illegally entering the United States were looking for jobs, the jump of those with criminal records is making the Border Patrol analyze the new type of traffic trying to enter the United States, Scioli said.
Many of them are connected to Mexican gangs, and what has to be determined is what exactly these criminals are wanting to do, he said.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office is seeing an increase in a number of illegal immigrants being housed in the county jail pending movement elsewhere because of outstanding criminal warrants, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said.
Illegal immigrants with outstanding warrants are turned over to the Sheriff’s Office for a continuation of the process to have them returned to the area where the criminal warrant was issued, she said.
Additionally, a number of those individuals who have warrants are being discovered to have relationships with gangs in Mexico, Capas said.
Scioli put the increasing number of illegal immigrants with criminal records this way: “There’s a whole new element coming across the border.”
During the last fiscal year — Oct. 1, 2007 through Sept. 30, 2008 — of the more than 317,000 illegal immigrants apprehended in the Tucson Sector, 16 percent had criminal records, which was up from the 11 percent for the previous federal budget year.
The percentage of individuals with criminal records is increasing this fiscal year. Since Oct. 1, 2008, more than 80,000 illegal immigrants have been apprehended throughout the sector. The exact percentage of those with criminal records is still being researched, but “there is an increase over last year.”
— Mike Scioli, U.S. Border Patrol, Tucson Sector
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