Three individuals have been meted out sentences for having illegally reentered the United States after previous deportations, as part of a concerted crackdown on illegal immigration called Operation Take Back America, aimed at stemming the tide of unauthorized entry and dismantling cartel operations. This week, United States District Judges Catherine Henry and Timothy J. Savage issued their judgment on the trio, each one a national from a different country, confirming sentences equivalent to the time they have already served in custody, ranging from roughly three to three and a half months.
Rigoberto Buox, a Guatemalan national aged 44, was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2016 and removed from the country in September of that year. Following a brush with the law in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where he faced an assault charge, Buox was once again taken into ICE custody this April, and he pled guilty to illegal reentry. According to a press release from the United States Attorney's Office, he waived prosecution by indictment, and Judge Henry sentenced him to time served.
In a similar vein, 32-year-old Honduran national Kevin Portillo-Urquia was sentenced to time served after ICE and ATF agents stumbled upon him during a joint operation in Philadelphia. Not the initial target of the operation, Portillo-Urquia was later identified as having been deported in July 2012 for illegal entry. He was detained in March, charged with illegal reentry in April, and has now pleaded guilty to the charges.
Wagner De Leon-Morales, a 46-year-old Mexican national, rounds out the trio. After being removed to Mexico twice in 2008, he was subsequently discovered during an ICE worksite enforcement operation in Pennsylvania. De Leon-Morales confessed to agents of his illegal presence in the country, was taken into custody in April, and promptly charged with illegal reentry in May, to which he pleaded guilty and waived prosecution by indictment. "These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals, the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration," the United States Attorney's Office explained in its statement.
The respective investigations were conducted by ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, ATF, and HSI, while Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Lewis Fallenstein, S. Chandler Harris, and Rebecca Kulik are credited with prosecution efforts. This sweeping initiative underscores the current administration's commitment to aggressive immigration policy enforcement and the reduction of crime associated with unauthorized border crossings.
