A migrant prison gang member who has entered the U.S. illegally 10 times and is wanted for murder in Mexico has been deported, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Friday.
Humberto Romero Avila, 45, described as a “foreign fugitive” by ICE, first illegally entered the country in 2002 and is wanted in Mexico in connection with the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man in 2007.
As well as breaking immigration laws, Avila has also been convicted of larceny, four DWIs and several other criminal offenses while illegally roaming the streets in the U.S., ICE said.
Avila, a member of the Paisas prison gang, was arrested in March 2024 following his latest felony arrest for DWI in Shelby County, Texas. ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the jail and forwarded his case for prosecution for illegal reentry.
While conducting routine background checks, ICE was then notified by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico that Avila was wanted for allegedly killing Mexican national Geovany Uriel Prado Morales in Celaya, Guanajuato, ICE said.
Avila was convicted of illegal reentry on Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and was sentenced to time served. The Bureau of Prisons transferred Avila into ICE custody on Jan. 31 and his prior order of removal was reinstated. He was then 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).
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“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 said that U.S. streets are safer now that Avila has been ejected from the country.
“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 first illegally entered the U.S. on March 22, 2002. He then jumped the border three more times that year and entered illegally for a fifth time in March 2005.
On each occasion, he was immediately apprehended by Border Patrol and voluntarily returned to Mexico the same day.
He illegally entered the U.S. for a sixth time on an unknown date and location and was not encountered until Aug. 3, 2012, at the Nacogdoches County Jail in Nacogdoches, a city in East Texas, following an arrest for driving under the influence.
He was deported later that month and entered illegally for a seventh time at an unknown date and location before he was jailed at Shelby County Jail in Center on Aug. 31, 2013, following another arrest for DWI as well as for larceny. ICE lodged an immigration detainer, and he was deported to Mexico in January 2014.
He illegally reentered again in February 2014 before being deported again that same month.
Avila illegally entered the U.S. for the ninth time in March 2014, and he was immediately picked up by the Border Patrol. He was then convicted of illegal entry and sentenced to 150 days incarceration.
The Bureau of Prisons transferred Romero into ICE custody in August 2014 following his release from prison, and he was again deported to Mexico.
The last time he illegally entered the U.S. is unknown, and the gang member wasn’t encountered again until March 22, 2024, following his arrest for a fourth DWI in Shelby County.
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The Bureau of Prisons transferred Avila into ICE custody on Jan. 31 and his prior order of removal was reinstated.
Avila’s deportation comes amid a heavy crackdown on criminal illegal migrants under the Trump administration.
There were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan. 20 to Feb. 8, compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024, a 137% increase, according to Department of Homeland Security data obtained by Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
