Fugitive wanted for homicide in Mexico arrested in Phoenix immigration raid

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Federal authorities say an illegal immigrant who was previously deported and wanted in Mexico on homicide charges was caught in the U.S. again during an immigration raid conducted in Phoenix earlier this week during DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 48-year-old Bonifacio Renteria-Cruz was arrested on illegal re-entry charges on Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Renteria-Cruz was previously convicted of aggravated assault in October 2006 in Maricopa County and had been sentenced to more than three years in prison before he was deported in early 2008. In July 2009, Mexican authorities charged him with homicide, and he has been on the run ever since.

However, in January, Homeland Security Investigations were tipped off that Renteria-Cruz returned to the United States and was arrested during an immigration operation as part of the Justice Department’s “Operation Take Back America.”

The New York Post reported that the operation also nabbed two other felons with “extensive criminal histories.”

But Arizona’s Family has learned the other men don’t appear to have a prior criminal record. Right now, they are now facing a felony charge for crossing back into the U.S. after previously being deported.

“If there was a criminal history, it would have been listed in that complaint?” Asked Arizona’s Family reporter Casey Torres.

“That is correct,” replied Sheree Wright, a Valley immigration attorney,

There could also be a case of mistaken identity.

“The news right now, you’ll realize that a lot of people are being detained based on their names,” said Wright. “They’re assuming that this is the person that they’re looking for and not fingerprinting and not finding actual real convictions. And they’re being deported for like the wrong thing. They’re being deported because they presume that they were those criminals that they’re looking for.”

On Thursday, a federal judge allowed the Trump administration to move forward with a requirement that everyone in the country illegally register with the federal government. The move could have far-reaching repercussions for immigrants across the country.

Judge Trevor Neil McFadden sided with the administration, which had argued that they were simply enforcing an already existing requirement that everyone in the country who wasn’t an American citizen register with the government.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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