A foreign fugitive who entered the U.S. illegally and is wanted in Mexico for a murder case has been apprehended near the southern border, likely after years of avoiding capture.
On a recent day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Jose Gustavo Angulo Bernal, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, outside his home in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Despite having no criminal history in the U.S., he is wanted in Sinaloa, Mexico, for his alleged involvement in the murder of a woman in 2018. His arrest occurred during a targeted traffic stop while he was in a vehicle registered to him.
An official statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) labeled Angulo-Bernal as one of the so-called “non-criminals,” highlighting that while about 70% of ICE arrests are people charged or convicted of crimes in the U.S., those wanted for crimes in other countries fall outside this statistic.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Biss noted, “Almost 70% of ICE detainees are linked to domestic crimes.” She further stated, “Angulo-Bernal is often referred to as a ‘non-criminal’ by the media, but he is, in fact, a cold-blooded murderer with a grave criminal history in Mexico.”
Angulo-Bernal faces accusations of participating in the murder of a woman in November 2018 alongside two accomplices. According to DHS, they are believed to have killed her and left her body in El Tamarindo, Sinaloa.
He entered the U.S. at an unknown time and managed to evade detection until recently. On March 31, ICE agents observed him leaving his residence in Lake Havasu City early in the morning. They executed a targeted stop, during which he was positively identified using Mexican ID. Subsequently, he was taken into custody at ICE’s field office in Phoenix for further processing.
DHS confirmed that Angulo-Bernal will remain in ICE custody while his immigration case is resolved. The statement continued, “Thanks to the efforts of ICE, this individual wanted for murder in Mexico is now off the streets. ICE is committed to removing the most dangerous individuals from our communities.”
This incident unfolds amidst ongoing funding disputes in Congress regarding ICE and Border Patrol’s operations, which have led to a partial government shutdown. These funding challenges stem from disagreements over present agency enforcement strategies, with Democrats insisting on changes to secure additional financial support.
