A historic crisis at the southern border has seen millions of illegal immigrants arrive at the southern border, with far too many ultimately being released into the United States as authorities struggle to cope with the numbers they face.
Illegal immigration has remained a top issue for voters ever since, highlighted by a number of shocking and high-profile crimes committed by people in the country without authorization.
These are some of the most shocking crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants in the midst of the border crisis, some of whom entered the country during the current crisis, some of whom entered the country years ago but recently Some are said to have committed crimes.
'Tens of thousands' more migrant murder convictions than ice bomb number: data expert
2022
In March, Jean Robert Mayan, an illegal Haitian immigrant, was arrested in Florida for allegedly stabbing a couple to death. They were riding their bikes to participate in a Bike Week event at the time of their deaths. He was later deemed incompetent to stand trial.
“This is probably one of the most vicious and gruesome incidents I've witnessed in 20 years,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jacari Young said at the time. “We can't rule out the possibility that this is completely random, but if it is, those responsible must be crazy.”
In July, Kayla Hamilton, who had autism, was raped and murdered in her mobile home. Police ultimately arrested a 17-year-old Salvadoran boy who authorities said had ties to the MS-13 street gang, but the boy was released to the United States in the custody of his aunt after an encounter at the border. Ta. Ann Interim Staff Judicial Committee Report The book, released in 2023, criticized the Biden administration's failure to vet suspects and called it a “tragic example of failure to enforce U.S. immigration laws.”
“For me, this is not a political issue. This is a safety issue for everyone in the United States,” Kayla's mother, Tammy Nobles, told lawmakers. “This child could have been anyone's daughter. Kayla did nothing wrong and didn't deserve to be killed. I don't want other parents to go through the nightmares I'm having. ”
That same month, Guatemalan illegal immigrant Gerson Fuentes was arrested on suspicion of child rape. The victim, who was nine years old at the time of the attack, admitted he attacked her. The case gained national attention after an Indianapolis doctor noted that the victim traveled to Indiana to obtain an abortion because of abortion restrictions in Ohio.
Gerson Fuentes enters Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus, Ohio, for a bail hearing on July 28, 2022. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)
In August, two undocumented Mexican immigrants were charged with the murder of a North Carolina sheriff's deputy. Alder Alfonso Marin Sotelo and Arturo Marin Sotelo are charged with the murder of Wake County K9 Deputy Ned Byrd, who was shot and killed while patrolling a neighborhood in response to multiple 911 calls on Aug. 11. . ICE told Fox News Digital that both brothers entered the country. us illegally “On an unknown date, at an unknown location,” and it was not a port of entry. That means they likely evaded Border Patrol agents.
Arturo Marin Sotelo was encountered by Border Patrol agents near Naco, Arizona in June 2010 and was deported to Mexico via Tucson, Arizona on a voluntary return. But then he re-entered the country.
In October, undocumented Canadian immigrant David DePape attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of California Democratic Party Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with a hammer. Depape entered the United States in 2008 and overstayed his visa.
That same month, an illegal Guatemalan immigrant was arrested on suspicion of stabbing eight people on a Las Vegas sidewalk, killing two of them. Yoni Barrios allegedly started going wild after a group of showgirls refused to take pictures with them. He reportedly used what authorities described as a “large knife with a long blade.” started the attack when they rejected him.
Stabbing suspect Yoni Barrios makes his first court appearance at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas. (AP)
2023
In April, Salvadoran national Carlos Dominguez was charged with stabbing two men to death two days apart in California. In May, he stabbed a homeless woman multiple times, but she survived. He had entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor in 2009.
That same month, in Texas, Mexican suspect Francisco Oropesa Pérez-Torrez, a multiple-time deportee, allegedly broke into a neighbor's house just before midnight and shot and killed five people, including a third-grade boy. was accused of. Others in the family asked Mr. Oropesa to stop firing the rifle in the yard later that night as the 1-month-old baby was trying to sleep. source of Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Oropesa was deported five times between 2009 and 2016.
In May, undocumented Salvadoran immigrant Jose Roberto Hernández Espinal was arrested on suspicion of raping a woman and a 15-year-old girl. The suspect reportedly entered the United States in 2013. According to court documents, Hernandez-Espinal allegedly thrust a machete into the woman's back, took her to a secluded area in the woods, and then raped her.
In June, police in Virginia arrested a Honduran man after allegedly breaking into an apartment and attempting to kidnap a 4-year-old girl. Fox5 reported. He reportedly entered the United States illegally in 2018, and ICE filed multiple detainer charges against him in 2021 and 2022, but they were not respected in the sanctuary where he lived. do not have.
Francisco Oropesa, 39, a Mexican national, is suspected of killing five people near Cleveland, Texas, on April 28, 2023. (Fox News)
In August, a Venezuelan immigrant was accused of raping a woman in Erie County, New York, in front of her 3-year-old child. Prosecutors say the suspect and the victim knew each other and the crime took place in front of a 3-year-old child who was with them in the hotel room.
In September, Mexican national Juan Vicente Zavala Lopez allegedly killed his roommate and then shot and killed a police officer during a car chase in Texas. Zavala-Lopez is said to have a long criminal history, having been deported nine times, facing charges in California and spending 18 months in a Texas prison.
In December, 16-year-old high school cheerleader Lizbeth Medina was stabbed to death in her apartment in Jackson County, Texas. The suspect is Rafael Gobert Romero, a Mexican national who is in the country illegally and is on probation for robbery.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, an undocumented Salvadoran immigrant who was deported four times between 2009 and 2015 was arrested on suspicion of killing a mother and her child in a car crash that police said was alcohol-related. Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alascas was first convicted of driving under the influence on August 4, 2007, and was later convicted of the same offense on December 7, 2016 and May 7, 2019. He was also found guilty of drunk driving on September 16 of the same year. 2007.
Also in December, Jose Santiago Chiles was arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting two sisters at their home in Dallas, Texas, and is also suspected of fatally shooting his own daughter during the same incident. Chiles allegedly shot sisters Catalina Valdez Andrade, 47, and Merced Andrade Bailon, 43, in the head and shot their daughter in the arm inside the home.
2024
In January, former ICE detainee Alonzo Pierre Mingo was charged with three counts of second-degree manslaughter for a murder he committed inside a home in suburban Minneapolis. He was accompanied by two accomplices who reportedly attempted to gain entry by wearing seasonal UPS uniforms and posing as workers. Police said the shooting was a drug-related incident and occurred while two children under the age of 5 were watching.
“Shortly thereafter, the older child was seen coming into the bedroom crying hysterically,” police said in a probable cause statement. “Another video later shows the younger child entering the bedroom to check on the woman, and the older child separating the younger child from the dead woman's body and carrying her out of the room. Ta.”
Meanwhile, in New York City, a police officer was severely beaten by a group of illegal immigrants as authorities dealt with a crowd of mostly Venezuelan migrants flooding into the sanctuary city. Some of them fled the city, but Joao Boada, 22, was later arrested and later released. flip the bird To the reporters waiting.
In February, Laken Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, was allegedly bludgeoned to death by an illegal Venezuelan immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia campus. Jose Ibarra was expected to travel to New York City and face child endangerment and motor vehicle charges after he was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol agents and entered the U.S. on parole in September 2022. ICE said he was released before being released into custody.
Jose Ibarra was arrested on February 23rd in connection with the February 22nd murder of Laken Riley in Athens, Georgia. (Clark County Sheriff's Office)
Months later, he would be charged in Riley's death. The case highlighted the challenges facing immigration enforcement officials, whose priorities have been narrowed under the Biden administration to focus on national security and public safety threats. But immigration enforcement officials also face resistance from sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities.
The same month as Riley's death, Angel Matias Castellanos Orellana, a Honduran national, was arrested in Kenner, Louisiana, on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint in a park and stabbing another man during a robbery. . Police warned that action against illegal immigrants is often hampered by a lack of identifying information and the use of false names. Castellanos-Orellana reportedly entered the United States via Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2023, at a time when the state was dealing with a surge in migrants.
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Also in February, Nilson Trejo-Granados was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of a 2-year-old in Maryland. Police said he was involved in a shootout between two gangs. Trejo-Granados has not been charged with firing the gun that killed the victim, but he is said to have been in a car with a group involved in the shootout.
In August, David Davon-Bonilla was accused of assaulting a 46-year-old woman at Brooklyn's famous Coney Island. forcibly rape She was held at knifepoint along with her accomplice.
That same month, authorities confirmed the arrest of a Virginia mother's illegal immigrant boyfriend. The mother was arrested after her two young sons were found chained to a post by their ankles. Suspects Wendy Del Cid Rodriguez and Franklin Archimedes Vieira-Guevara told investigators that they briefly chained the boys' ankles to “scare” them so they wouldn't leave the house. It is said that
ICE confirmed to Fox that the suspect was an undocumented Salvadoran immigrant who was deported in 2019 but re-entered the country as a “fugitive.”
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ICE announced in September that it had arrested a number of criminal illegal immigrants from Martha's Vineyard, a free vacation hotspot where Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent immigrants on private planes. Among those arrested in late August was Wally Neto, a 24-year-old Brazilian illegal immigrant. Neto, who entered the United States illegally in 2018 through the Paso del Norte border area between Texas and Mexico, is charged with five counts of rape of a minor in Massachusetts.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, police announced the arrest of several suspected Torren de Aragua members in connection with a shooting in Aurora near an apartment complex believed to have been occupied by the gang.
All Venezuelan nationals between the ages of 19 and 24 illegally crossed the southern border through Texas in 2022 and 2023 under the Biden administration. All four were arrested by Aurora police, and ICE requested the custody of two of them.
