ICE San Francisco detains convicted murderer after prison sentence ends

ICE San Francisco took Jesus Madrigal-Arroyo into custody after he finished a prison sentence for first-degree murder and kidnapping in an armed carjacking, and the Mexican national is now being held pending removal from the United States. The detention marks the federal end of a case that began in Santa Cruz County, where Madrigal-Arroyo was convicted.

On June 18, the Department of Homeland Security identified Madrigal-Arroyo as a criminal illegal alien from Mexico convicted for murder and kidnapping during a carjacking in Santa Cruz, California, alongside other arrests involving murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault on a child under 13, attempted sexual assault of a child under 14, sexual assault and assault.

Local arrest data put more than 1,000 immigration arrests in and around San Francisco between Jan. 20 and Oct. 15, 2025, including 539 arrests at routine immigration appointments, 193 that likely occurred in the community and 147 in hallways outside immigration courtrooms.

Santa Cruz County criminal-case records can be requested through Santa Cruz Superior Court's Criminal Division research and copy request process. A separate California Court of Appeal opinion involving a defendant named Joel Madrigal in Santa Clara County covered a first-degree murder conviction and a sentence of 100 years to life consecutive to 12 years before part of that judgment was later reversed. That was a different defendant and a different case.