On Friday, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico announced its immigration enforcement statistics for this week. These cases are prosecuted in partnership with the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol, along with Homeland Security Investigations El Paso and assistance from other federal, state and county agencies.

In the one-week period ending July 25, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office brought the following criminal charges in New Mexico:

40 individuals were charged this week with illegal reentry after deportation 4 individuals were charged this week with alien smuggling 37 individuals were charged this week with illegal entry 35 individuals were charged this week with illegal entry, violation of a military security regulation and entering military, naval, or U.S. Coast Guard property, arising from the newly established National Defense Area in New Mexico.

Many of the defendants charged pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1326 had prior criminal convictions for robbery, alien smuggling, DUI, assault and illegal reentry.

In one significant case, Jose Luis Ramirez-Montoya, a Mexican national illegally in the U.S., was charged with providing a false statement to a firearms dealer by falsely claiming on an ATF form that he was a U.S. citizen. At the time of the false statement, Ramirez-Montoya was attempting to purchase a firearm from a pawn shop in Deming, NM. The sale was denied, and HSI agents located Ramirez-Montoya at a residence in Deming, NM, where he was arrested.

Protecting law enforcement officers is a key part of border security. During this time period, two Guatemalan nationals were charged with assault of a federal officer. On July 17, 2025, a group was spotted crossing the border in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. When a Border Patrol agent arrived at the location, the group was spotted hiding in some brush. When the agent attempted to apprehend one of the subjects, Sarbelio Garcia-Ramo, “threw elbows” and was able to break free for a short time.

The agent then attempted to arrest Juan Gutierrez-Gutierrez who began wrestling with the agent. As the agent was wrestling with Gutierrez-Gutierrez, Garcia-Ramo approached them and grabbed the agent by her duty belt and started to pull her away. A second agent arrived, and both defendants were subsequently subdued and arrested.

From the beginning of fiscal year 2025 through June 2025, 50 El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents have been assaulted, following 103 assaults in the 2024 fiscal year. U.S. Border Patrol is collaborating closely with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that those who assault federal officers are brought to justice. This interagency cooperation is crucial in protecting the men and women who serve on the front lines of our nation’s border security efforts and in deterring future attacks on law enforcement personnel.

These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

These statistics represent prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico only. The numbers do not include individuals apprehended by immigration enforcement officials and subjected solely to administrative process. According to officials, enhanced enforcement both at the border and in the interior of the district have yielded aliens engaged in unlawful activity or with serious criminal history, including human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against children.

The District of New Mexico consists of 33 counties and shares 180 miles of international border with Mexico. Assistant U.S. attorneys from Albuquerque and Las Cruces work directly with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to prosecute immigration-related and other federal offenses.