Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents stopped four previously deported sex offenders in as many days from successfully re-entering the U.S. interior. In addition, the agents also stopped an MS-13 member.

Agents assigned to the Falfurrias Border Patrol station in Brooks County, Texas, stopped a group of eight illegal immigrants on December 14 who were attempting to circumvent the immigration checkpoint located in the middle of the county. The agents identified one of the men as a Guatemalan national with a previous conviction in Martin County, Florida, according to Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol officials.

The agents learned that the court in Martin County convicted the Guatemalan man for attempted lewd and lascivious conduct. The court sentenced the man to 20 months in prison and required that he register as a sex offender, officials stated.

On Sunday afternoon, McAllen Station agents working the border near Penitas, Texas, arrested a Honduran man who illegally crossed the border with his juvenile child. During processing, the agents learned that the Honduran illegal immigrant has a previous conviction from Newburgh City, New York, for rape of a victim under the age of 17, officials reported. The New York court sentenced the man to 18 months in prison.

McAllen Station agents arrested a Salvadoran man later that evening near Abram, Texas. The agents transported the man to the station for a biometric background investigation. The investigation uncovered a previous conviction by a court in Modesto, California, for sex with a minor. The California court sentenced the man to 270 days in prison, officials reported.

Rio Grande City Station agents encountered a group of six illegal immigrants who reportedly crossed the border illegally near the town of Escobares, Texas, on Monday. The agents transported the migrants to the station for processing where a records check revealed yet another previously convicted sex offender.

A court in Lawrenceville, Georgia, convicted the migrant on a charge of aggravated assault and required his registration as a sex offender in the state of Georgia.

In addition to the four previously deported sex offenders, agents from the McAllen Station also stopped a human smuggling attempt near the border town of Roma, Texas. The agents apprehended 12 illegal immigrants in the stop. After transporting them to the station for processing, agents found that one of the men, a Salvadoran national, is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Officials reported that all of the illegal immigrants apprehended in these cases will be processed according to Rio Grande Valley Sector protocols. Those previously deported could face new federal felony charges for illegal re-entry after being removed as a sex offender. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in federal prison before being deported.