Repeated CPB captures of convicted sex offenders highlight tie between border, local security

U.S. Border Patrol agents continue to capture previously convicted sex offenders month after month, highlighting a key intersection between border security and public safety.

For example, authorities on Aug. 18 arrested a 44-year-old Mexican man who had a record of conviction "in 2016 of sexual battery upon a person 12 or older but under 18 years of age, attempted lewd or lascivious molestation and use of a computer to seduce or solicit a child," according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release, which noted that the individual had been previously deported.

Agents on Aug. 22 apprehended a man and discovered via records checks that he was an illegal alien and had a prior conviction in the U.S. of "Lewd or Lascivious Acts with a child under 14 years old." The Mexican male "had been previously ordered removed from the United States on Sept. 15, 2008," according to CBP.

The entry of previously convicted sex offenders into the United States represents an ongoing, ominous public safety threat. "In fiscal year 2020, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents have arrested and removed 44 individuals either convicted or wanted on sexual offense charges after they entered the United States illegally," CBP reported on Monday.

El Centro Sector is only one of the 20 Border Patrol sectors listed on CBP's website, though only some of these fall along the nation's southern border. 

Just the News has previously highlighted Border Patrol agents' apprehension of other previously convicted sex offenders. And as the two recent examples cited earlier in this article demonstrate, the offenses sometimes involve minors.

Month after month U.S. Customs and Border Patrol publishes press releases about authorities nabbing previously convicted sex offenders, revealing the persistence of the problem.

Here are just a few more examples:

• Border Patrol Agents Arrest Convicted Felon Sex Offender
• Rio Grande Valley Agents Arrest Convicted Sex Offender
• Border Patrol Agents Arrest Dangerous Man
• Convicted Sex Offender Arrested by Border Patrol Agents
• Rio Grande Valley Agents Arrest Sex Offender Near Immigration Checkpoint