A 54-year-old man from Mexico who was trying to cross illegally into the United States at the border in California was previously ...
A 54-year-old man from Mexico who was trying to cross illegally into the United States at the border in California was previously convicted of rape.
He already had been deported from the U.S. once, Customs and Border Protection officials said.
Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia, 54, was apprehended by agents on Monday night
It wasn't clear whether his rape conviction was from when he was previously in the U.S., or whether it occurred in Mexico; CBP didn't say.
The apprehension of the convicted rapist comes as the number of would-be migrants trying to reach the United States is reaching 'critical' levels, according to Border Patrol officials.
President Joe Biden's commitment to undo the policies of Donald Trump may be related to the uptick of migrants currently trying to cross the border.
In a release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency announced they apprehended Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia, 54, on Monday night.
Agents at the station in Yuma, Arizona caught Aurelio Sandoval-Valdivia around 11:30pm on Monday night near Andrade, California, along with 17 others.
Sandoval-Valdivia was convicted of felony rape in the past, CBP said. The Mexican national also held misdemeanor convictions for willful cruelty to a child and driving while intoxicated.
The CBP didn't indicate whether those convictions were in the U.S., or in Mexico, and it wasn't immediately clear in public records.
Sandoval-Valdivia had been deported from the United States in the past and was 'processed along CBP guidelines,' the agency said.
CBP didn't say whether it's holding Sandova-Valdivia, or whether agents have given him to Mexican authorities. DailyMail.com has contacted the agency for comment and additional details.
While Sandova-Valdivia is a convicted criminal, many migrants are coming from Central America to escape violence, as well as economic hardship and natural disasters.
According to Reuters, the administration is beginning to change its messaging to become more aggressive in light of the current surge at the border.
Pictured: Construction of the border wall in Coronado National Forest, Arizona. Agents from the Yuma, Arizona station were the ones to apprehend the 18 migrants on Monday
Part of that language shift is removing the implication that migrants will be welcome later, instead suggesting illegal migration won't be tolerated ever.
'We’re going to be more aggressive, more agile about getting our message out, we’re going to try and combat the smugglers’ messages and make sure that people understand the truth,' said Roberta Jacobson, the White House’s southern border coordinator.
Approximately 100,000 migrants were caught at the border in February, the most for a single month in almost two years.
As of Thursday, around 4,500 children were stuck being held at border facilities.
Despite the public statements of Biden officials, more than 9,500 migrant family members caught at the border last month were released, many into the United States.
The migrant crisis along the border is reaching a critical mass. Pictured: Migrants in custody at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection area in Mission, Texas on Thursday
Press secretary Jen Psaki called the situation at the border a 'crisis' this week, before backtracking.
Psaki confirmed to DailyMail.com that Biden has seen photographs from inside facilities where unaccompanied children are being held upon crossing the border.
The administration has confirmed that, in some cases, the children are held for more than the three days which is what what federal law permits for such facilities.
'He is committed to expediting the processing at the border - one of the reasons he wanted a briefing from people who have been in there so he can see himself, what it looks like,' Psaki said of Biden.
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