Border agents release photos of convicted pedophiles, rapists, murderers caught sneaking into U.S.

Donald Trump warned on the first day of his winning 2016 presidential campaign that securing U.S. was a national priority and said "rapists" were already crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Now, in the recent surge of immigrants at the border's southwest sector, U.S. border officials posted a rogues gallery of illegal immigrants they have captured and say are suspected pedophiles, rapists and murderers.

“In the past four days, #USBP agents arrested a murderer, an MS-13 gang member, and two sexual predators illegally present in the country. #RGV agents continue safeguarding our communities from violent criminals like these,” Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Joel Martinez of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley tweeted.

The photos included one of an immigrant's torso that had "MS" tattooed in large letters across his chest.

Late last week, Martinez posted snapshots of two other men, saying, "RGV Sector Border Patrol agents arrested three sex offenders who were illegally present in the U.S."

And he wrote: "RGV Sector Border Patrol agents arrested three sex offenders who were illegally present in the U.S. One subject was arrested for rape and sentenced to 20 years, the other two men were arrested for indecency with a child in the cities of Amarillo and Sulphur Springs, TX."

U.S. border authorities also announced last week that they have captured a convicted rapist who illegally entered the country with a group of 18 others. Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia, a 54-year-old Mexican with a past felony rape conviction, was arrested by Customs and Border Protection. 

"The convicted rapist also had on his record misdemeanor convictions for willful cruelty to a child and driving while intoxicated," The New York Post reported. He had has already been in the U.S. and was previously deported. 

Critics have blamed President Biden for mass influx of immigrants at the southwestern U.S. border, calling the situation a "crisis." 

Biden, in some of his first executive orders, did away with the Migrant Protection Protocols, which had kept foreigners trying to enter the U.S. illegally in Mexico to await hearings. The result is that some are now being allowed to enter the U.S. 

During the 2016 campaign, Trump drew harsh criticism for disparaging the people sneaking into the United States illegally at the southern border.

"When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you," he said when officially announcing his bid in June 2015. "They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."