EXCLUSIVE: An illegal immigrant who re-entered the U.S. five times said his drinking is the „mistake“ that finally led to his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement early Thursday morning.
Ernesto Alejandro Perez-Garcia, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Redondo Beach, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Perez-Garcia has a history of arrests dating to 2003 for alcohol-, controlled substance- and driving-related offenses, as well as making terroristic threats and illegally re-entering the U.S. ICE said he illegally entered the country five times and made four additional attempts to enter.
Fox News Digital witnessed ICE arrest Perez-Garcia on Thursday. When agents first encountered him on the Redondo Beach esplanade, he denied his identity. However, when confronted with a previous mugshot, Perez-Garcia acknowledged that he was the man they were seeking.
After ICE booked and processed him, Perez-Garcia told Fox News Digital that he lied to agents „to see if I could get away with it.“ He said that after he was confronted with his mugshot, he realized, „I’m busted, you know, in other words, I’m f–ed.“
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN ACCUSED OF STABBING VIRGINIA MOTHER, DOUSING HER IN GASOLINE
Perez-Garcia said that despite national headlines about ICE operations, he did not expect to be arrested Thursday morning. He said he was on his usual morning walk when agents encountered him.
„Once I saw the officer … with the picture of me, there was no way I was going to run,“ he said.
„At the end of the day,“ he continued, „it’s the alcohol that got me back in this mess.“ While he said a friend’s recent death „got me caught up [in alcoholism],“ he said, „It shouldn’t have, so it’s my mistake, and I’ve got to be responsible for that.“
Perez-Garcia first entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location. The Torrance Police Department in California initially arrested him on April 3, 2003, for driving without a license. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 days. Over the next few years, he was also convicted of driving with a suspended license and possessing controlled substance paraphernalia.
According to ICE, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, convicted Perez-Garcia on April 10, 2006, of threatening crime with intent to terrorize. He was sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years of probation. ICE removed him to Mexico for the first time the next month.
FATHER OF SLAIN MARINE SPEAKS OUT AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO KILLED SON FACES THIRD DEPORTATION
However, he re-entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location. On June 27, 2006, he was arrested again for threatening crime with intent to terrorize.
Over the next two decades, Perez-Garcia was arrested for various offenses, including repeated attempts to cross the southern border in Tecate, California.
Since 2020, Perez-Garcia has been arrested five times for disorderly conduct, including four arrests by the Redondo Beach Police Department. He was arrested twice this year for disorderly conduct, on April 17 and May 8. ICE said the department declined to honor its detainer requests twice, in 2020 and again in 2026.
Perez-Garcia claimed that the Redondo Beach Police Department „let me know a couple years ago“ that ICE was looking for him.
„Redondo PD had told me about it, you know, Redondo PD was cool with it. They let me go with it, you know what I mean, but they also told me I had a warrant for my arrest,“ he said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Redondo Beach Police Department for comment on Perez-Garcia’s assertion.
Los Angeles Field Office Director Tom Giles spoke with Fox News Digital shortly before ICE arrested Perez-Garcia. Giles emphasized that „when these detainers aren’t honored, what it does for us is it sends our officers out into the community, putting our officers at risk and other community members at risk to go out and try to apprehend this individual.“
„So, for sanctuary policies, what we ask these jurisdictions is to cooperate with us,“ he said, adding, „It will make our communities safer.“
Perez-Garcia said he believes his arrest by ICE is „fair.“
SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER
„I was trying to lie about it because I actually don’t got nothing there in Mexico right now, you know what I mean? I grew up right here, and this is what I know,“ he said. Perez-Garcia also said his children live in the U.S. and that he has heard stories about how „so hard“ it is to return to the U.S.
„I don’t know what’s going to happen, to tell you the truth,“ he said. „I already knew it was going to catch up to me; I just didn’t know when.“
EXCLUSIVE: 5-time illegal entrant admits ‘mistake’ that finally got him busted by ICE 2026
IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2026 2026-08-22 09:22:39
Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
