Nearly 400 Immigration-Related Cases Filed in California, Texas

Federal prosecutors announced nearly 400 immigration and border-related cases filed over the past week in Texas and California, including cases involving illegal immigrants with prior convictions for child sex offenses, aggravated assault, and theft.

In Texas, federal prosecutors from the Western District filed 264 immigration and related criminal cases between Sept. 11 and 17, the DOJ said in a Sept. 18 statement.

This included immigrant smugglers and illegal immigrants with past convictions for child sex crimes, thefts, violent crimes, and several prior removals from the United States.

One of the charged individuals is Jose Enrique Vasquez-Nicolas, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who previously served five years for sexually assaulting a child and was subsequently deported in June 2025. He was arrested after returning to the United States and charged with illegally reentering the country.

Pedro Damian Torres, a U.S. citizen charged with human smuggling, is alleged to have smuggled five illegal immigrants for $3,000. The individual admitted to three additional smuggling events carried out in the past.

Another individual facing charges, Jose Luis Saldana-Barrios, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico with convictions for aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated, and was removed from the United States in 2017. Saldana-Barrios has two active arrest warrants and is now charged with illegal re-entry.

The DOJ said the Texas cases are a part of Operation Take Back America, an initiative established by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a March 2025 memorandum with the goal of enforcing federal immigration laws, targeting cartels, and combating human smuggling and trafficking.

In California, federal prosecutors filed 132 border-related cases in the Southern District last week, the DOJ said in a Sept. 18 statement. Charges were filed for reentering America after deportation, importing controlled substances, and bringing illegal immigrants into the country for financial gain.

In one case, Jose Camarillo De La Torre, a Mexican national, was arrested after officials said they identified more than 122 pounds of fentanyl concealed in a vehicle he was driving while seeking entry into the United States.

The total number of immigration and border-related cases filed in Texas and California comes to 396.

The Epoch Times was unable to reach the legal representatives for the defendants.

The Trump administration continues to hold off the influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border. August marked the 16th straight month of zero releases at the U.S.–Mexico border, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Sept. 16 statement.

“Catch and release is over, consequences are back, and illegal crossings have fallen to historic lows,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.

Immigration, Crime

Democrats have criticized the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrants. The House Committee on the Judiciary Democrats said in a Sept. 15 statement that it is pulling away federal agents from fighting “serious crime.”

During a recent hearing, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said most people the Department of Homeland Security arrested posed no threat to public safety.

“When DHS expends all of its energy to go after parents, longtime friends, neighbors, when [Homeland Security Investigations] agents who are supposed to investigate serious crime and human trafficking are instead being moved to street sweeps and riding along with local police for random traffic stops, we are less safe, not more safe,” he said.

Despite concerns from Democrats, data indicate that crime rates have gone down under the Trump administration.

FBI Director Kash Patel said during a Sept. 15 Senate hearing that crime nationwide has fallen to historic lows.

Since January 2025, the FBI has made nearly 54,000 violent crime arrests, a 90 percent increase from the previous 18 months, Patel said. More than 550 task forces and more than 6,000 members have been deployed to tackle violent crime threats.

During this period, the FBI identified and located more than 11,000 child victims, up 21 percent from the previous 18 months. The agency has arrested more than 5,000 child predators and human traffickers.