Federal agents have arrested a Mexican national in Clarence, charging him with illegal re-entry after multiple prior removals from the United States.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced Monday that Jose Antonio Barcena-Ruiz, 41, was taken into custody and charged by criminal complaint. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to prosecutors, Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement encountered Barcena-Ruiz on May 31 during a vehicle stop involving four individuals. He identified himself as a Mexican citizen and presented a Mexican passport and a New Mexico driver’s license but had no valid documentation authorizing his presence in the country.
A records check revealed that Barcena-Ruiz had been removed from the United States four times—once in 2008, twice in 2009, and again in 2010.
He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and was ordered detained pending further proceedings.
The arrest was part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative focused on disrupting illegal immigration and dismantling transnational criminal networks.
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