Foreign fugitive wanted for woman’s killing lived undetected in US for possibly years before ICE arrest
A foreign fugitive who illegally entered the U.S. and is wanted for killing a woman in Mexico was caught near the southern border after evading notice for possibly years.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Mexican illegal immigrant Jose Gustavo Angulo Bernal outside a residence in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, last week. Though Angulo Bernal had no criminal record in the U.S., he is wanted in the Mexican state of Sinaloa on homicide charges connected to the 2018 murder of a woman. He was arrested during a targeted traffic stop while driving a vehicle registered in his name.
In a public statement, the Department of Homeland Security mockingly referred to Angulo Bernal as "one of the Media’s ‘Non-Criminals.’" The agency emphasized that while nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of crimes in the country, those with foreign charges are not part of that statistic.
DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis commented that while "nearly 70% of ICE arrests have been convicted or charged with a crime in the United States," the "actual arrests of public safety threats and criminals is much higher."
"Jose Gustavo Angulo Bernal is a cold-blooded killer and an example of who the media often refer to as a ‘non-criminals,’ [sic] because they only have heinous convictions in their home country," said Bis.
According to DHS, Angulo Bernal is charged with participating in the murder of a woman alongside two other accomplices in Nov. 2018. The agency said that after killing her, the trio allegedly dumped the woman’s body in the town of El Tamarindo, Sinaloa.
Then, Angulo Bernal entered the U.S. at an unknown date and time.
He evaded detection until recently. On March 31, ICE officers staking out a residence in Lake Havasu City observed Angulo Bernal entering his vehicle around 5:50 a.m. The federal officers conducted a targeted vehicle stop, during which Angulo Bernal was positively identified through his Mexican identification card. He was arrested and taken to ICE’s field office in Phoenix for processing.
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DHS said he will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his immigration proceedings.
"Thanks to ICE law enforcement, this monster wanted for murdering a woman in Mexico is off our streets.
From foreign fugitives, gang members, and terrorists, ICE is getting the worst of the worst off our streets and out of our country."
This comes as DHS continues to undergo a lapse in funding due to a partial government shutdown. The shutdown has been brought on by disagreements in Congress over ICE and Border Patrol enforcement tactics, with Democrats making renewed funding contingent on significant changes to the agency’s current posture.