EL PASO, Texas — A “child predator” from Ecuador was arrested this week as he attempted to enter the U.S. illegally. He was one of a number of sex offenders nabbed coming across the border over the holiday period, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.
El Paso Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said the unnamed Ecuadorian national had previously been convicted of aggravated sodomy, child molestation and rape. He had served 12 years for the convictions out of Georgia, Fox News reported.
The slew of similar arrests keep occurring as the U.S.-Mexico border remains inviting to a high number of migrant encounters, which topped 174,000 in November, according to the news outlet.
Tucson Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent John Modlin said that agents arrested a Mexican citizen this week who is also a registered sex offender. Nester Ramirez-Zarco was previously convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in Illinois.
“He will be prosecuted!” Modlin tweeted.
Meanwhile, a Honduran national was one of two sex offenders collared in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. He was part of a group of three migrants and had previously been arrested in Texas for burglary and indecency with a child in 1998. Following his conviction he served merely 145 days in jail.
Later the same day, agents picked up another Honduran national who had been arrested in 2016 in Texas for aggravated sexual assault of a 14-year-old. The man was later sentenced to five years in prison. His latest arrest came seven months after being deported, Fox reported.
The total number of sex offenders returning to the U.S. is alarming and can certainly be considered one of Joe Biden’s first year failures. In Fiscal Year 2021, there were 488 convicted sex offenders among migrants trying to re-enter the country. This is up dramatically from 156 in FY 2020 and 58 in FY 2019. Furthermore, the trend continues. So far in FY 2022, which began in October, there have been at least 64 sex-related convicted criminals among migrants.
