Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas filed 255 new immigration and immigration-related criminal cases from October 16 through October 22, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release on October 23. Charges were brought against alien smugglers and illegal aliens with past convictions for violent crimes, thefts, and multiple prior removals, the office said.
Vaquill's DOJ news summary, also dated October 23, carried the same headline figure — 255 new cases filed between October 16 and October 22 — describing the filings as a significant one-week total for the district.
Among the new cases, a U.S. citizen, Hilary Freyre, was arrested and charged with alien smuggling after she allegedly attempted to bring two undocumented minors into the U.S. via the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, the office said. A criminal complaint alleges Freyre presented her Texas identification card and two birth certificates — one from Texas and one from New Mexico — for two minors in her back seat; that an officer noticed facial discrepancies with a phone photo; and that at secondary inspection she allegedly stated the minors were not her children and the certificates belonged to her two biological children. The complaint also alleges she possessed $1,123 in U.S. dollars and 5,400 Mexican pesos despite initially claiming she had only $400. These are complaint allegations, not findings.
Several cases involve alleged repeat illegal re-entry. Oscar David Hernandez-Gonzalez, also known as Juan Higera-Medrano, was arrested after he allegedly jumped out of a rail car during a Customs and Border Protection inspection on a train at the BNSF railyard in El Paso; the office said he has previously been removed seven times, most recently in 2015, has prior convictions including prostitution, sex battery and burglary of a building, and now faces an illegal re-entry charge. Raul Azahel Zubia-Alvidrez was found just under 13 miles west of the Fort Hancock Port of Entry; the office said he was first deported in July 2025 and has multiple felony convictions dating back to 2012, including aggravated robbery, robbery and aggravated assault.
Juan Jose Aguilar-Gonzalez was stopped on October 17 in Balcones Heights for driving without lights and was turned over to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations; the office said he has been removed at least three times and now faces his second illegal re-entry charge. Fermin Gonzalez-Sanchez was encountered by ICE ERO at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center after an arrest for criminal mischief, was transferred to ICE custody on October 17, and now faces an illegal re-entry charge for the fifth time, the office said. Ruben Salazar-Lopez was arrested near Eagle Pass on October 17 and faces his third illegal re-entry charge after four removals, and Anacleto Silva-Herrera, arrested near Del Rio on October 16, faces a re-entry charge after a December 2023 conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, for which he was sentenced to 37 months, and three deportations, the office said. In the Austin area, Galdino Cortes-Cortes was arrested in Manor on October 18 and is charged with illegal re-entry; the office said he was removed for the second time in March 2021 following an alien-smuggling conviction and has also been convicted of DWI and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The cases were referred or supported by ICE, U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from state and local partners, the office said. The Western District of Texas covers 68 counties, nearly 93,000 square miles and an estimated 7.6 million people, includes San Antonio, Austin and El Paso, and shares 660 miles of border with Mexico. The U.S. Attorney's Office noted that indictments and criminal complaints are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and said the cases are part of the nationwide initiative it calls Operation Take Back America.