If ever a case represented the insanity of America’s open borders — especially President Joe Biden’s policies — it is that of Mexican national Carlos Bartolo Rios — a previously deported Mexican national and convicted rapist who received less than a year and a half of jail time and allegedly re-entered the country less than 12 months after being removed.
Rios was recently nabbed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in North Charleston, South Carolina, according to The Post and Courier. The illegal immigrant was spotted on October 4 by the exact same ICE officer who had previously detained him in 2021, a source told the paper.
But Rios’ problems with the law started far before the federal government ever got involved.
In 2019, a girl younger than 11 in Charleston told a school official that Rios, then 29, was sexually molesting her and showing her pornography. Rios was then arrested by Charleston County sheriff’s deputies and was indicted in 2020 by a grand jury on the charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor younger than 11.
The charge would have carried a minimum sentence of 25 years in jail. Yet, for some reason, Rios was allowed to strike a deal.
Instead of getting sent to the slammer for a long time, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and dissemination of obscene material to a minor, in February 2021. “Solicitor Scarlett Wilson said evidential issues and concerns for the victim’s well-being led the prosecutor in the case to make a deal to avoid a trial,” The Post And Courier explained.
The Department of Homeland Security then took Rios into custody and deported him in March 2021. Sometime in 2021, he again crossed the U.S. border without permission, according to sources close to the investigation.
The local paper noted, “The source said ICE is unaware of any crimes Rios committed since his reentry. He is not listed on any state or national sex offender registries.”
Now, the Mexican national has been charged with a criminal complaint of unlawfully reentering the country after being previously removed following an aggravated felony conviction. Rios could be sentenced to up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine, if he is found guilty.
Rather than assimilate into American culture, it would appear he never even bothered to learn English as he needed a court interpreter to understand the charges against him.
His case highlights the fact illegal immigration has been a multi-decade problem that has plagued both GOP and Democratic presidencies.
Biden’s new ICE policies instituted in 2021, however, ordered the agency to focus solely on illegal aliens who are arrested by police for violent crimes. Using resources to go after the most violent illegal aliens sounds good on paper until you realize that unless an illegal alien is arrested for a crime, then he or she won’t be targeted for deportation.
Because of that, it was a complete happenstance that the convicted child rapist was apprehended by federal authorities this time around.
If Rios wasn’t so dumb as to return to the scene of his crimes, or if the ICE agent who previously detained him had not seen him on October 4, then it is possible that Rios would still be evading authorities.
Due to the lax enforcement of immigration law by the Biden administration, it is estimated that more than 5.5 million illegal aliens have entered the country since January 2021. Of those numbers, approximately 1.1 million of them are “gotaways” — such as Rios — who have come into the country completely undetected.
Unless those individuals are caught by police for other crimes, the Biden administration will not be deporting them anytime soon. So America’s open borders continue.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
