6-14-2025 5:57pm

DOJ District of New Mexico Weekly Immigration and Border Crimes Report 6-13-25

Chris Edwards Editor

AlamogordoTownNews.org DOJ District of New Mexico Weekly Immigration and Border Crimes Report 6-13-25

The United States Attorney’s Office of Ryan Ellison of the District of New Mexico announced its immigration enforcement statistics for this week. These cases are prosecuted in partnership with the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, along with Homeland Security Investigations El Paso, and assistance from other federal, state, and county agencies.

In the one-week period ending June 13, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office brought the following criminal charges in New Mexico:

78 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Reentry After Deportation (8 U.S.C. 1326)
10 individuals were charged this week with Alien Smuggling (8 U.S.C. 1324)
36 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325)
66 individuals were charged this week with Illegal Entry (8 U.S.C. 1325), violation of a military security regulation (50 U.S.C. 797) and Entering Military, Naval, or Coast Guard Property (18 U.S.C. 1382), arising from the newly established National Defense Area in New Mexico.

Many of the defendants charged pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1326 had prior criminal convictions for burglary, alien smuggling, DUI, and reentry of a deported alien.

In one significant case, Georgina Ramirez was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a two-count indictment charging conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and high speed flight from a checkpoint. In September 2023, Ramirez was transporting four illegal aliens from El Paso, Texas to Deming, New Mexico, when she fled from a Border Patrol checkpoint on I-10 west of Las Cruces, New Mexico. After traveling several miles, she stopped the vehicle in the median of the interstate, telling the group of aliens to run. While fleeing, one of the aliens was struck and killed by an oncoming semi-truck.

In a similar case, Ulysses Uriel Chanez was arrested and initialed on charges arising from an incident on April 8, 2025. Chanez entered the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Otero County, New Mexico at a high rate of speed, failed to stop, and fled from agents at speeds exceeding 100 mph. Because of the risk to the agents and the public, the chase was discontinued and Chanez was not apprehended. Chanez was charged by criminal complaint with high-speed flight from checkpoint and was arrested on June 6, 2025.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, 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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

These statistics represent prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico only. The numbers do not include individuals apprehended by immigration enforcement officials and subjected solely to administrative process.

Under current leadership, public safety and a secure border are the top priorities for the District of New Mexico. Enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The District of New Mexico consists of 33 counties and shares 180 miles of international border with Mexico. Assistant U.S. Attorneys from Albuquerque and Las Cruces work directly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to prosecute immigration-related and other federal offenses.