Feds file 237 new immigration-related criminal cases across Western District of Texas

Feds file 237 new immigration-related criminal cases across Western District of Texas by Jessica Warner Fri, November 6, 2026 at 4:43 PM 3 VIEW ALL PHOTOS Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 237 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced. (SBG San Antonio) Comment on this story 0 Comment Share story Share SAN ANTONIO - Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 237 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from Oct. 31 through Nov. 5, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced. The cases include charges against alleged alien smugglers and people accused of illegally re-entering the United States after prior removals, including defendants with past convictions that prosecutors said include DWIs, thefts and violent crimes. Among the new cases, two U.S. citizens and an illegal alien from Mexico are charged with alien smuggling after a joint law enforcement operation in El Paso stopped a tractor-trailer carrying 53 illegal aliens, according to the Department of Justice. On Oct. 28, Horizon Police Department officers stopped a semi-truck driven by U.S. citizen Miguel Angel Debruhl. U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted an immigration inspection inside the cab and allegedly found a backpack containing a large number of cell phones. Debruhl was arrested. At the same time, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper stopped a second semi-truck driven by U.S. citizen Alan Montelongo. Montelongo allegedly consented to an inspection of the cab and trailer, and a criminal complaint alleges the inspection led to the discovery of 53 illegal aliens sitting along both sides of the trailer. Investigators allege Montelongo agreed to transport the group through the I-25 Border Patrol checkpoint in Las Cruces and would be paid about $16,000 to split with Debruhl. Border Patrol agents also continued surveillance at a suspected stash house, where a criminal complaint alleges Abel Delval-Dominguez, an illegal alien from Mexico, was seen loading groceries and several full black trash bags into a pickup truck. Agents had previously seen Delval-Dominguez and the pickup transporting aliens between the stash house and the truck yard from which Debruhl and Montelongo departed on Oct. 28, according to the complaint. Delval-Dominguez was arrested and charged with alien smuggling along with Debruhl and Montelongo. Several other cases highlighted in the release involve illegal re-entry charges: Edgar Villanueva-Garcia, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested in El Paso on Oct. 28 and charged with illegal re-entry. Prosecutors said he was recently deported for the fourth time through Dallas on Oct. 6, following a conviction for his second DWI. He has also been previously convicted of improper entry by an alien and bail jumping. In Del Rio, Gregorio Zamano-Ortiz, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry. Prosecutors said he was previously convicted in New York for third-degree assault and first-degree sexual abuse. Paulin Balderas-Mejia, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested near Carrizo Springs and charged with illegal re-entry. Prosecutors said he was convicted in December 2019 of harboring aliens and sentenced to more than three years in prison, and was deported for the second time on Nov. 16, 2022. Manuel Guadalupe Armenta-Ortega, an illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested near Eagle Pass and charged with illegal re-entry after being deported for the fourth time on Sept. 21. Prosecutors said he was arrested for his second DWI before that removal and has felony convictions including deadly conduct discharge of a firearm and assault causing bodily injury to a family member. Eling Francisco Briceno-Vidaurre, an illegal alien from Nicaragua, was arrested near Eagle Pass and charged with illegal re-entry. Prosecutors said he has been deported six times, most recently in March 2025, and has been convicted twice of illegal re-entry as well as possession of a weapon and possession of an unregistered firearm. Antonio Vargas-Colindres, an illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested near Eagle Pass on Nov. 1 and charged with his second illegal re-entry, according to prosecutors. They said he has been deported five times, was convicted of illegal re-entry in Miami in July 2023 and sentenced to one day in prison, and was convicted the following month in Miami of aggravated battery on a pregnant victim, cruelty toward a child and cocaine possession. Mainor Castillo-Reyes, an illegal alien from Honduras, was arrested in Austin and booked into the Travis County Jail on Oct. 28 for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, then transferred to ICE custody and now faces an illegal re-entry charge, prosecutors said. They said he was convicted of indecency with a child in 2017, sentenced to four years in state prison and deported in August 2019. Jose Medardo Anariba-Cruz, an illegal alien from Honduras, is charged in Austin with illegal re-entry. Prosecutors said he was arrested for his third DWI in December 2025 and convicted of fleeing from police and reckless driving, and has been removed from the U.S. three times. In San Antonio, Geovani Lizbeth Rodriguez-Delgado, an illegal alien from Mexico, was released from the Bexar County Jail and taken into ICE custody after being convicted of assault causing bodily injury, according to prosecutors. They said she was previously removed to Mexico in September 2025 and was convicted in 2009 of robbery and sentenced to four years in state prison. Juan Vincente Romero-Trejo, an illegal alien from Mexico, was transferred into ICE custody from the Bexar County Jail on Wednesday, according to the release. Prosecutors said he was arrested Oct. 1 for assault causing bodily injury to a family member, has been removed from the U.S. four times, and has three convictions in the Southern District of Texas for illegal re-entry. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas covers 68 counties across central and western Texas, encompassing nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated population of 7.6 million people, according to the release. The district includes San Antonio, Austin and El Paso and shares 660 miles of border with Mexico. The Department of Justice noted that indictments and criminal complaints are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors said the cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative. Trending 1 dead, 1 in grave condition after shootout with police at Alamo Ranch San Antonio police are investigating an officer-involved shooting on the far West Side near Lone Star Parkway and Alamo Ranch Parkway. One person is dead, another is hospitalized in critical condition. 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