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Two Cuban citizens are facing charges after being arrested in Texas for illegally re-entering the territory of the United States, having been deported, authorities reported.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Western District of Texas filed charges against the undocumented Cuban immigrants Rolando Portales Zambrano and Daynel Torres Pérez, both with prior criminal records, as part of nearly 400 new criminal cases related to immigration initiated in February, according to an announcement by federal prosecutor Justin R. Simmons.
Portales Zambrano was arrested in mid-February near Maverick County for illegal re-entry into the U.S., just two weeks after being deported to Mexico on January 28, through the city of Harlingen in the southern part of the state, according to a statement from the Prosecutor's Office.
The Cuban citizen has an extensive criminal record, including two convictions for serious crimes such as human trafficking, assault causing bodily harm to a family member, and failing to present identification or attempting to provide false information as a fugitive.
The case of Portales Zambrano is one of the 200 criminal proceedings related to immigration filed between February 13 and 19 by federal prosecutors from the Western District.
During those days, authorities charged human traffickers and undocumented foreigners with criminal records for sexual offenses, violent crimes, drug trafficking, driving under the influence of alcohol, and multiple prior deportations.
In addition to the Cuban, immigrants from other countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, were captured and brought before the judiciary, along with two American citizens accused of human trafficking.
From February 20 to 26, the Federal Prosecutor's Office announced new arrests that resulted in the filing of 175 new criminal cases against immigrants for the same offenses previously mentioned, with additional charges for gang affiliation.
Among those included in this group was Daynel Torres Pérez, who was arrested near Maverick for re-entering the U.S. illegally, despite having been deported in June 2025. The statement did not specify the destination of his deportation.
Torres Pérez, convicted twice, has a criminal record for third-degree grand theft, robbery without weapons in an occupied structure, and driving with a suspended license.
This group also includes migrants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Western District of Texas emphasized that all these cases fall under Operation "Take Back America," an initiative through which the Department of Justice aims to repel what it describes as "the invasion of illegal immigration," completely eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect communities from violent crime perpetrators.
According to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP), the United States closed December 2025 with historical lows in migration encounters at its borders and recorded eight consecutive months without releasing migrants through parole programs, under the anti-illegal immigration policy promoted by the administration of Donald Trump.
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