Border agent: Migrants included 7 sex offenders
CARLI BROSSEAU
Published: 03.19.2008
Border Patrol agents arrested at least seven convicted sex offenders who were illegally entering southern Arizona from Mexico in the past nine days, an agency spokesman said.
Agents do a background check on each illegal immigrant they arrest, Agent Mike Scioli said. Within about 10 minutes of scanning a set of fingerprints into a computer, agents receive a list of any previous arrests and warrants, Scioli said.
The program, called the Integrated Automatic Fingerprinting Identification System, is run by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It gleans the information from national, state and local records.
The Border Patrol has used the technology for about four years, Scioli said. It helps agents decide which immigrants to prosecute.
All immigrants who have been convicted of felonies in the U.S. and are caught re-entering the country are charged with re-entry of an aggravated felon, Scioli said. That's about 10-to-15 percent of the 1,500 arrested a day, based on last year's numbers, he said.
"We see these kinds of charges all the time," Scioli said. "It is so common. These are the most extreme cases."
If convicted, re-entering felons may get up to 20 years in prison. The seven arrested sex offenders will face charges, Scioli said.
Six of the seven were held in Border Patrol custody until their arraignment and then in a local jail, Scioli said. One was extradited to New York. All were from Mexico. Scioli said those arrested were:
• Miguel Montes-Aguilar, 36, convicted of rape in New York and wanted for another sex-related charge in that state, was arrested near Douglas on March 10 and extradited to New York.
• A 34-year-old man, whom agents are not naming because of his part in a larger prosecution, was also arrested near Douglas on March 10. He was convicted of forcible touching in New York last year.
• Jorge Galicia, 32, was convicted of rape in Ohio and arrested near Tucson on March 11.
• Daniel Hernandez, 39, who was convicted in California of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and sexual penetration with a foreign object, was arrested near Nogales on Wednesday.
• Sergio Aspinion-Melachor, 32, was convicted of sexual battery in Alabama and arrested near Nogales on Saturday.
• Francisco Arias-Bautista, 28, was convicted of rape in Seattle and arrested near Tucson on Saturday.
• Manuel Santiago-Valentin, 39, was convicted of sex with a minor in Florida and arrested near Nogales on Monday.
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