US wants migrants to know that crossing the border illegally could mean jail time
Federal immigration authorities in Arizona are warning people to think twice about crossing into the United States without using the proper channels to immigrate.
Unauthorized immigrants could face prosecution if caught, which could result in imprisonment.
'If you try to enter the U.S. by crossing the border illegally, you will be found, detained, and deported,' Jesus Vasavilbaso, U.S. Border Patrol agent and spokesperson for the agency's Tucson Sector, said on May 8. 'If you have committed a crime, more than once, you will be processed for a federal crime, which could result in a prison sentence.'
Vasavilbaso spoke to media outlets in Spanish on Thursday morning at Mariposa Canyon, a desert grassland where gravel service roads run along the border west of the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona.
In previous years, that area had seen hundreds of people entering daily through gaps in the 30-foot steel bollard wall to turn themselves in daily to the Border Patrol. The flow of people stopped when the gaps in the wall were completed last year, Vasavilbaso said.
He announced the end of "catch and release," a policy that allows the release of migrants into the community rather than detaining them while they wait for their court hearings. He also underlined the Trump administration's intention to prosecute 100% of all unauthorized crossings.
Vasavilbaso warned that Mexicans caught crossing illegally could face charges and be deported to the interior of Mexico, and as far south as the Mexico-Guatemala border, miles away from where they entered the U.S.
"If you try again, the consequences will be worse," he warned. "Trying to enter the country illegally is not a process of trial and error."
He noted that if someone is caught crossing illegally and has previous criminal charges, they could face many years in prison.
Despite the current low numbers of unauthorized crossings into Arizona from Mexico, Vasavilbaso said he wants people to heed the warning.
Being charged with a federal crime could impact a person's ability to come to the U.S. 'de por vida,' he said. 'For life."
The warning comes as the southern border is seeing a decrease in border patrol apprehensions. While the number of unauthorized border crossings was already decreasing under the Biden administration, the number has dropped even more under President Donald Trump, according to the Migration Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan think tank.
The think tank attributed the drop in numbers, in part, to Trump ending the CBP One app, which allowed migrants to schedule appointments at a border port of entry. Trump renamed the app CBP Home and repurposed it for reporting self-deportations, the think tank said. As of April 24, at least 5,000 immigrants reportedly used CBP Home to report they were leaving the country, the Migration Policy Institute said.
Vasavilbaso noted that the Tucson Sector alone has seen a 90% decrease in people crossing over, compared with last year.
Despite the current administration's focus on arrests, the pace of deportations suggests the administration will fail to reach its goal of 1 million deportations annually, the Migration Policy Institute said.
The Trump administration 'appears on track to deport roughly half a million people this year,' said the group in an April 24 publication. The article notes that the number of people deported this year is fewer than the 685,000 deportations recorded in 2024 under former President Joe Biden.
At Thursday's news conference, The Arizona Republic asked Vasavilbaso if there would be a legal process for people to enter the United States.
There already are legal pathways into the United States with various types of visas, Vasavilbaso said, but that is something Congress decides, not border enforcement officials.
The Migration Policy Institute maintains that the Trump administration has 'effectively ended access to asylum at the Southwest border,' which had already been decreasing during Biden's last year in office.
Firsthand look: Arizona border, once the busiest in the nation for illegal immigration, goes quiet
Arizona Republic reporter Raphael Romero Ruiz contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com.
The Republic's coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: US officials warn migrants not to cross border illegally
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