Houston’s ICE field office has deported two 24-year-old men wanted in Mexico in separate homicide cases, sending both through Laredo after immigration proceedings in the United States. Mexican authorities took custody of the men last Tuesday, according to the agency’s account.
Agustin Morales-Renteria and Juan Becerra Ruiz were transferred from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo, where they were handed over to Mexican officials, according to Click2Houston. Morales-Renteria is wanted in Mexico for aggravated homicide, while Becerra Ruiz has an intentional-homicide warrant from Querétaro.
Morales-Renteria first entered the United States in September 2021 and was expelled under the COVID-era Title 42 process, according to Breitbart Texas. ICE said he reentered the country about a month later, was later encountered in a Missouri sheriff’s office, and was ultimately convicted in federal court of being an illegally present immigrant in possession of a firearm. He received an 18-month prison sentence before being transferred to ICE custody in May and ordered removed in July.
Becerra Ruiz’s case began with a warrant issued in Querétaro on Oct. 21, 2022, for intentional homicide, Click2Houston reported. U.S. Border Patrol received information about the warrant and his possible location in the Houston area in May, then detained him during a traffic stop in Spring on June 4. An immigration judge ordered his removal on June 30.
ICE Says Men Will Face Cases In Mexico
ERO Houston Acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez said the deportations reflected the office’s stated focus on public safety and immigration enforcement. “These two fugitives will now face justice for their alleged crimes,” Martinez said, according to Breitbart Texas.
The homicide allegations remain separate Mexican cases, and the men’s transfer does not amount to a conviction in either matter. Their removal from the United States followed immigration judges’ orders, while Mexican authorities will handle the warrants and any prosecution from here.
