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PHOENIX, Ariz. – Deportation officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Phoenix removed Jose Inez Garcia-Zarate, 49, a Mexican national who was removed on six previous occasions, via commercial air to Mexico on March 1.
This Mexican national has a lengthy criminal history aside from being removed from the U.S. six pervious times, said ERO Phoenix Field Office Director John E. Cantu. ERO will not allow criminals and prior deported people to overrun our communities. Noncitizens who commit crimes and are not legally present in the U.S. will be removed in accordance with our immigration laws to their home country.
Garcia-Zarate illegally entered and reentered the United States at unknown locations without admission or parole by an immigration officer. Garcia-Zarate was removed from the United States six times, in June 1994, April 1997, January 1998, February 1998, March 2006, and July 2009. He has an extensive criminal record that includes multiple convictions related to drug possession, violating terms of his probation, and drug trafficking, which resulted in approximately five years in prison.
On Feb. 16, 2024, Garcia-Zarate was released from the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix and transferred to ERO Phoenix’s custody under an immigration detainer.
Garcia-Zarate has a criminal history in the United States spanning more than three decades, dating back to 1991. On March 27, 2015, ERO San Francisco lodged an immigration detainer with the San Francisco Police Department for Garcia-Zarate following his arrest on an outstanding warrant. After the San Francisco district attorney dropped the charges, the police did not honor the detainer and released Garcia-Zarate from custody on April 15, 2015. Previously, Garcia had served time in federal prison in Victorville, California, for illegal reentry after deportation. Officials handed him over to the San Francisco Police Department on March 26, 2015. They released him on April 15, 2015, then arrested him again for the suspected murder of a woman in San Fransisco on July 2, 2015.
On Dec. 5, 2017, a federal grand jury empaneled by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California indicted him for being a noncitizen and felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
On Jan. 8, 2018, Garcia-Zarate was transferred to federal custody for his federal case. On June 10, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California convicted him on the federal charges and sentenced him to time served. He remained in federal custody to serve the remainder of his sentence stemming from prior federal probation violations.
The March 1 removal marks Garica-Zarate’s seventh deportation.
