Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin traveled to Phoenix, Arizona on Friday to observe deportation flights and afterward released a statement indicating that among those removed to Mexico were individuals with prior convictions for offenses including child sexual abuse, violent assault, drug trafficking, and gang-related activity.
A government spokesperson attributed the deportation push to what they described as a public mandate from the last election, adding that the administration was carrying out removals of undocumented individuals from the country on an ongoing basis. Mullin further stated that removals of undocumented individuals would continue until the numbers reached the highest level achievable, with the stated aim of improving national safety.
Court records show that one individual removed, identified as Velasquez Orozco, was subject to a standing removal order at the beginning of the month. His prior convictions encompassed burglary, sexual offenses against a child younger than 14, and assault with intent to commit rape. A second individual, identified as Baray-Acosta, carried drug possession convictions alongside an aggravated driving-under-the-influence offense in which a passenger under 15 years of age was present in the vehicle. A removal order carried out in 2016 led to his departure, yet he returned to the country by 2021.
Court records show that Noe Ochoa Torres carries prior convictions spanning child abuse, marijuana possession, and child sexual assault. His arrival in the country during the 1990s followed lawful channels, yet a conviction record led to his removal in 2001. Records show he re-entered the country and faced a second removal order in 2006, marking what authorities documented as a third period of presence without legal authorization.
Vasquez Encinas entered the United States through lawful channels in 2023, though his authorized period of stay lapsed after April of that year, and a formal removal order has been in place against him since July. Court records show that Vasquez Encinas faced a guilty verdict on a charge of attempting to sexually exploit a child under the age of 15.
Court records further show that Garcia-Ordonez, who had been removed from the country on four prior occasions during the 1990s before returning at an undetermined point, carried a conviction for assault and battery committed in front of a minor. Preciado-Gamboa's criminal record included offenses spanning from battery through to shoplifting. Removal proceedings against Preciado-Gamboa have been active since 2025, with records showing a prior deportation that took place sometime in the mid-2000s. According to DHS records, he was classified as an affiliate of the 18th Street gang.
Court records show that Jose Cruz Estrada, who had been removed from the country on two prior occasions — once in 2001 and again in 2004 — carried a criminal history that included charges spanning from threats of violence to physical harm inflicted on members of his own household.
Court records show that Horacio Lopez-Cruz has been convicted of driving while intoxicated and of making a terrorist threat against a peace officer or judge in Texas, though the date he crossed into the country without documentation has not been established. Court records show that Carbajal Villegas had previously been found guilty of assault along with two separate driving-while-intoxicated offenses, and no record establishes when he re-entered the United States after being deported in 2009.
Court records show that Felipe-Olivera carried prior Idaho convictions for impaired driving and breach of the peace, along with three separate removals from the country, all of which took place in 2007. During his Arizona trip, Mullin toured a section of the border wall alongside Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott on Thursday.
