Border Patrol agents in Texas recently arrested two illegal immigrants who were both previously convicted for child sex offenses.
The first of the two arrests happened on May 15, when agents at McAllen Border Patrol Station working near Abrams, Texas arrested a group of 10 immigrants shortly after they had illegally entered the United States. An unaccompanied minor was among them.
One of the men in the group was found to have been previously arrested by law enforcement in Washington state for rape of a child. Raul Sanchez-Sanchez was found guilty of the charge in 2016 and was sentenced to 34 months in prison and 36 months of community service.
On May 17, agents working near Anzalduas Park in south Mission, Texas arrested another illegal immigrant, who was found to have been arrested in 2014 by the New York City Police Department for “Sexual Contact of a 9 year old female child.” Rafael Rauda-Lopez, 49, was convicted in 2016 for second-degree sexual abuse, for which he was sentenced to a year in prison.
Both men were Salvadoran.
“The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.”
The United States is currently experiencing a surge in illegal immigration along the U.S.–Mexico border. According to CBP data, overall apprehensions at the southern border hit record levels in April with 178,622 arrests. The figure marks the highest one-month total in 20 years and a three percent increase from March. The number of children traveling alone across the border who were stopped by border agents was 17,171 in April, a slight decrease from March’s figure of 18,960.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has reversed a number of policies from the Trump administration over the border and immigration, including pausing and ultimately suspending border wall construction, and announcing the removal of former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” order for arrivals before Jan. 1.
