Federal prosecutors in New Mexico charged more than 130 individuals with immigration-related crimes over a two-week period ending March 27, according to new enforcement statistics released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico — a sign of what officials say is a significant increase in enforcement activity across the state.
The charges were brought in partnership with the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso, and assistance from other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies operating throughout New Mexico’s southern border region and interior.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 98 individuals were charged with Illegal Reentry After Deportation, a federal felony under 8 U.S.C. 1326. Another 10 individuals were charged with Alien Smuggling under 8 U.S.C. 1324, and 6 individuals were charged with Illegal Entry under 8 U.S.C. 1325.
In addition, 19 individuals were charged with Illegal Entry along with violations related to entering restricted military property. Those charges stem from arrests made in the newly established National Defense Area in New Mexico, where additional federal security regulations now apply. Those individuals were charged under a combination of federal statutes, including violation of a military security regulation and entering military, naval, or Coast Guard property.
Federal officials noted that many of the individuals charged with Illegal Reentry After Deportation had prior criminal convictions. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, those prior convictions included crimes such as theft, aggravated DUI, aggravated assault, use of false immigration documents, aggravated vehicular assault, child sexual assault, domestic violence, alien smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and prior immigration offenses.
The cases are part of a broader federal initiative known as Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice effort focused on combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and prosecuting individuals accused of violent crimes and human trafficking offenses.
Officials emphasized that the prosecution numbers released this week reflect only criminal charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. The figures do not include individuals who were apprehended by immigration enforcement officials but processed through administrative immigration proceedings rather than criminal court.
The District of New Mexico covers all 33 counties in the state and includes approximately 180 miles of international border with Mexico. Federal prosecutors based in Albuquerque and Las Cruces work with law enforcement agencies across the region to prosecute immigration-related crimes and other federal offenses.
Federal authorities say public safety and border security remain top priorities in the district, and that recent enforcement efforts have increasingly focused on individuals with prior criminal histories, as well as cases involving human trafficking, sexual assault, violence against children, and organized criminal activity.
The latest numbers provide a snapshot of how immigration enforcement is currently being carried out in New Mexico — not just at the border, but across the interior of the state — and show the scale of federal prosecutions now moving through the court system in Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
As federal enforcement activity continues, additional charges and prosecutions are expected in the coming months as part of the ongoing operation.
This shows that the NM Attorney General wasn’t doing his job.
Thank you, President Trump.