A migrant prison gang member who has unlawfully entered the United States ten times and is wanted for murder in Mexico has been deported, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported on Friday.
Humberto Romero Avila, 45, a “foreign fugitive” according to ICE, entered the nation unlawfully in 2002 and is wanted in Mexico in connection with the death shooting of a 22-year-old male in 2007.
In addition to violating immigration rules, Avila has been convicted of larceny, four DWIs, and multiple other criminal charges while unlawfully wandering the streets of the United States, according to ICE.
Following his most recent felony DWI charge in Shelby County, Texas, ICE captured Avila, a member of the Paisas prison gang, in March 2024. ICE filed an immigration detainer with the jail and referred his case for prosecution for unauthorized reentry.
While completing standard background checks, ICE was told by the US Embassy in Mexico that Avila was wanted for allegedly murdering Mexican national Geovany Uriel Prado Morales in Celaya, Guanajuato, ICE stated.
On January 28, Avila was convicted of unauthorized reentry in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and sentenced to time served. On January 31, the Bureau of Prisons transferred Avila to ICE custody, and his original order of removal was reinstated. He was subsequently deported.
“For nearly a quarter of a century, this transnational gang member has blatantly disregarded our nation’s immigration and criminal laws, putting the life of every person he’s encountered in danger,” said Bret Bradford, the Houston field office director at ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
“On top of that, he’s accused of brutally gunning down an innocent 22-year-old man in Mexico in 2007. In the more than 30 years that I’ve worked in immigration enforcement, I’m not sure I’ve ever come across a more egregious offender or a better example of why immigration enforcement is so critical to maintaining public safety.”
Bradford believes that Avila’s removal from the country has made American streets safer.
“He will no longer be free to reign terror on the general public and finally face justice for his alleged involvement in that heinous crime that took place 18 years ago,” Bradford said.
Avila originally illegally entered the United States on March 22, 2002. He then crossed the border three more times that year, entering illegally for the fifth time in March 2005.
On both occasions, he was captured by Border Patrol and voluntarily returned to Mexico the same day.
He unlawfully entered the United States for the sixth time on an unknown day and location and was apprehended on August 3, 2012, at the Nacogdoches County Jail in Nacogdoches, a city in East Texas, after being arrested for driving under the influence.
He was deported later that month and returned illegally for the seventh time on an unknown date and location before being imprisoned in Shelby County Jail in Center on August 31, 2013, following another DWI and theft charge. ICE issued an immigration detainer, and he was deported to Mexico in January 2014.
He illegally re-entered in February 2014 before being deported the same month.
Avila illegally entered the United States for the eighth time in March 2014, and the Border Patrol apprehended him instantly. He was later convicted of illegal entry and sentenced to 150 days in prison.
Following his release from prison in August 2014, Romero was transferred to ICE custody and deported to Mexico once more.
The final time he unlawfully entered the United States is unknown, and the gang member was not seen again until March 22, 2024, when he was arrested for a fourth DWI in Shelby County.
On January 31, the Bureau of Prisons transferred Avila to ICE custody, and his original order of removal was reinstated.
Avila’s deportation comes as the Trump administration intensifies its war on criminal illegal aliens.
From Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests, up 137% from 4,969 in 2024, according to Department of Homeland Security data acquired by Fox News Digital.
