Two cross illegally once too often

Coming back to the U.S after being deported resulted in long prison sentences last month for two Mexican men.

Jose Ibarra-Contreras, 29, of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, and Alberto Dominguez-Armenta, 28, of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, will both spend the next few years behind bars for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation.

In separate federal court cases, both men agreed to plead guilty to illegally re-entering the U.S., which is a felony charge.

Ibarra-Contreras was sentenced to five years in prison. He was arrested in November 2004 near Nogales. After Border Patrol agents brought him to the Nogales station, he was found to have a criminal record, including five previous deportations and a robbery conviction, according to information provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

After Ibarra-Contreras completes his prison sentence, he will be deported once again.

Dominguez-Armenta was caught illegally crossing the border in August 2004 near Sonoita. Border Patrol agents determined he had previously served 48 months in prison for coming back into the United States after deportation. Dominguez-Armenta was deported four times before, and has a record of drug-related crimes.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison, after which he will be deported- again.

Criminals coming back

Catching convicted felons as they attempt to re-enter the U.S has become commonplace, said Border Patrol spokesman Aerr Eltringham.

Since October 2004, agents have detained 21,180 illegal border crossers with criminal histories. This is an almost 500 percent increase over similar apprehensions in 2003, he said.

The numbers don't necessarily reflect more criminals coming across, but Border Patrol's increased ability to detect them, Eltringham explained.

Now, all Border Patrol stations are on line with the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which allows agents to quickly check criminal histories of each person who is detained.

Statistics revealing the number of previously-deported felons arrested this year were not available. Border Patrol records from fiscal year 2004, which ended in October of that year, show 7,681 were deported before. The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted 1,384 of those for re-entry after deportation.

After serving prison sentences, or being convicted of a crime, federal authorities will deport criminals back to their countries of origin. If a criminal is a Mexican citizen, he or she is brought back to the border and released into Mexico, Eltringham said.