Carlos Saucedo, KXTV 12:53 a.m. PDT October 29, 2014

It's no secret that Marcelo Marquez has had his share of run ins with the law.

Prior to Friday's deadly rampage, Marquez -- under a different name -- was arrested several times on drug related charges in Maricopa County dating as far back as 1996.

Now, word of his immigration status has now sparked fierce debate on the country's immigration system.

Immigration officials said before Friday's shootout that killed two sheriff's deputies, Marquez – an undocumented immigrant – was twice deported to Mexico.

His illegal reentry into the U.S. has reignited the immigration debate with one sheriff.

"All the illegals I have in the jail, how they keep coming back for murder and sex crimes, and they come back to jail," Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

Arpaio said 1 in 3 undocumented immigrants in his jails have been in them at least once before, and the system needs to be fixed.

"It's just a broken system on every aspect you can think of," Stockton immigration lawyer Elias Mendoza.

He said Marquez should have been processed differently because of his criminal past.

"This gentleman in this case should have never re-entered the U.S., and when he got caught that second time, he should have been put in federal prison," Mendoza said.

Rather than serve months, if not years in federal prison, Marquez was released to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported.

"A lot of people that should be penalized, aren't because you can imagine, the sheer volume of how many people keep trying to cross that border," Mendoza said. "How are we going to have jail space?"

Now, people are left to wonder if Marquez slipped through the cracks due to an overwhelmed system.

It's unclear how Marquez got back into the country. He's now being held without bail and ICE has placed their own immigration detainer on Marquez.

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