Federal Prosecutors File Over 250 Immigration Cases in Single Week

Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 251 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases between March 13 and March 19, the second consecutive week the office surpassed 250 filings, following 250 cases filed the week of March 6 to March 12.

The cases span charges from illegal re-entry and illegal entry to human smuggling and assault on federal officers, with many defendants carrying prior felony convictions for violent and sexual offenses and histories of multiple deportations. Cases will be processed through the office's divisions in San Antonio, Austin and El Paso.

Among the defendants drawing attention in earlier weekly filings that established the pattern is Fredy Alberto Guevara-Maldonado, a Honduran national arrested near Eagle Pass. According to a criminal complaint, Guevara-Maldonado allegedly kicked a U.S. Border Patrol canine in the head and attempted to grab a federal agent's weapon and genitals during the struggle before his arrest. He faces charges for assault on a federal officer.

Closer to home, Zeferino Turrubiates-Ramos was arrested near Val Verde and faces illegal re-entry charges; he carries a prior history of aggravated assault and illegal re-entry. Stephane Mujinga Elonga, a Congolese national, was charged with illegal re-entry in Del Rio after previous deportations and convictions for assault and DUI.

Other defendants identified in the broader wave of filings illustrate the reach of the coordinated enforcement effort. In San Antonio, Abraham Hermilindo Gallegos-Mendez was charged with possession of a firearm by an alien after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found a loaded 9mm handgun in a jacket he allegedly left in a vehicle. Leonel Nazario Ramos-Guerrero, arrested near Maverick, faces illegal re-entry charges after having been deported seven times. In Austin, federal agents identified Ivan Perez-Saldana and Juan Jose Esparza Garcia while both were already held in Travis County Jail on local charges; Esparza Garcia has three prior removals and three DWI convictions.

Luis Soto-Leyva, a Mexican national, attempted to enter through the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso in October 2024, resulting in an improper entry conviction. He was detained again in February 2026 after Customs and Border Protection officers observed him crossing the border and now faces alien smuggling and illegal re-entry charges.

The filings are part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2025. The U.S. Attorney's Office described the program as a "nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime." A Gibson Dunn analysis of DOJ memoranda linked the initiative's steering of Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force resources toward border prosecutions to the spike in high-volume weekly filings.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons credited the volume of cases to coordinated referrals from federal partners including ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the ATF, alongside state and local law enforcement. A prior U.S. Attorney's Office press release from March 2025, issued under Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman, announced 240 cases for a single week and noted that more than 160 of those defendants were charged with illegal re-entry, with the majority carrying felony convictions for narcotics offenses, violent crimes or prior immigration violations, and more than 60 faced illegal entry charges, with six cases involving human smuggling.

The Western District covers 68 counties and shares a 660-mile border with Mexico. Indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.