Border Patrol agents arrest three sex offenders, eight gang members attempting to enter US

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Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector this week arrested three sex offenders and eight gang members coming across the southern border and attempting to enter the United States.

On Wednesday, an agent discovered a Salvadoran national in a group of 18 migrants. He had a prior conviction for aggravated sexual assault of a child less than 13 years old, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a release. 

FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent monitors single-adult male detainees at Border Patrol station in McAllen, Texas, U.S. July 12, 2019.   (REUTERS/Veronica G. Cardenas//File Photo)

BORDER AGENTS NAB MURDERERS, SEX OFFENDER, GANG MEMBERS IN 2 DAYS

A day later, another Salvadoran -- traveling in a group of 10 migrants -- was discovered to have a prior conviction in Los Angeles for Lewd Acts with a Child under 14. On the same day, a Uruguayan national was caught trying to enter the U.S. He had a 2007 arrest for Loitering for Sex under 18-years-old in Georgia, for which he was sentenced to 12 months probation.

Separately, agents arrested eight foreign nationals from Romania, El Salvador and Honduras who were identified as being members of transnational criminal organizations. One of the Romanian nationals has an active extradition warrant.

They are the latest public safety threats to be encountered coming across the border during a migrant crisis that has been ongoing for nearly a year and that has overwhelmed authorities at the border – leading to concerns about who it is who has managed to get past Border Patrol agents as well. There were more than 178,000 migrant encounters in December, and there were approximately 1.7 million migrant encounters in FY 2021.

BORDER PATROL ARRESTS GANG MEMBERS, MIGRANT WITH CHILD SEX CRIME CONVICTIONS IN GROUPS CROSSING INTO US

There were 10,763 arrests of migrants with criminal convictions in FY 2021, up from 2,438 in FY 2020 and 4,269 in FY 2019.There were 488 convictions for sex offenses among migrants in FY 2021, up from 156 in FY 2020 and 58 in FY 2019. Meanwhile, there were 348 gang affiliated apprehensions in FY 2021, down from 363 in FY 2020 and 976 in FY 2019.

Video from a Border Patrol source shows agents getting into a heated back and forth with USBP Chief Raul Ortiz right in front of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during his visit in Laredo, Texas, Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. (Fox News)

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Earlier this month, agents nabbed murderers, a sex offender and gang members in less than two days. One Salvadoran was arrested among a group of eight migrants from Mexico and El Salvador and found to have been arrested in 2005 in Dallas for murder. The man, who was also an MS-13 gang member, was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.