U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Utah removed Sergio Orlando Monroy Rescinos, 37, a Guatemalan national, on May 7, 2025, to face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a minor under 14 years of age. Upon arrival in Guatemala, he was arrested by local authorities working in coordination with the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement task force.
Two Utah men were indicted on charges of conspiring to provide material support to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), a designated foreign terrorist organization, through an illegal crude oil smuggling operation based in South Texas. The investigation by ICE, DEA, and FBI resulted in the seizure of oil tankers and related assets, with authorities seeking a $300 million money judgment upon conviction.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed Mexican national Jairo Ivan Paredes Cota to Mexico on March 27, 2025, where he was wanted for sexual assault of a minor. Paredes had previously been deported in 2013 and had illegally re-entered the United States before his arrest in Nevada.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Yubert Yasiel Lopez-Lopez, 31, of Honduras, with being found in the United States on February 2, 2025, after having previously been removed from the country on two prior occasions. Lopez-Lopez, a citizen of Honduras, was first removed in December 2014 after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near Hidalgo, Texas. He was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle and ordered detained pending the resolution of this matter.
U.S. Border Patrol Agent David C. Maland was fatally shot during a traffic stop on Interstate 91 in Vermont, approximately 20 miles from the Canadian border. An exchange of gunfire resulted in one suspect being killed and another wounded and taken into custody. The suspect who was killed was a German national who had been in the United States on a valid visa.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged arrest detainers for criminal illegal aliens who were charged in connection with a shooting on a Virginia highway. The DHS announcement highlights enforcement action taken against individuals with criminal records involved in the violent incident.
Ricardo Leonel Mejia, a 35-year-old Salvadoran national, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of child rape and related offenses in Virginia Beach. The assault occurred in 2024 while Mejia was working as a contractor at a family's home, and was discovered when the victim's mother found him in her daughter's room. Mejia will serve his sentence at the Virginia Department of Corrections before being transferred to ICE custody.
U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia announced updates on a series of immigration enforcement cases involving individuals who illegally reentered the United States after prior deportations and went on to commit additional crimes including drug offenses, sexual battery, assault, child neglect, and DUI. Several defendants were found by immigration authorities after being arrested for committing new crimes following their unlawful return. The announcement noted that prosecution of criminal immigration offenses is a priority under executive orders signed on January 20 by the President.
Cesar Bermudez Evans, a 21-year-old Nicaraguan national, was charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in a felony after allegedly shooting a 20-year-old man multiple times outside a Virginia Beach nightclub. Court documents indicate Evans was part of an inadmissible alien proceeding and had stated he arrived in the U.S. from Nicaragua and was going through the asylum process. Following his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement promptly issued a detainer for Evans.
Multiple Virginia sheriffs have refused to cooperate with ICE detainers, releasing illegal aliens with criminal records back onto the streets rather than turning them over to federal immigration authorities. Among the policies enabling this is a "Trust Policy" adopted by Fairfax County that requires an administrative warrant before local law enforcement may cooperate with ICE. Virginia Democrats have remained largely silent on the criminal records of those being shielded, even as federal authorities push back on the sanctuary practices.
