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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday she expects boxer Julio Cesar Chávez Jr. to be deported to Mexico to serve a sentence for alleged arms trafficking and organized crime, after he was arrested by ICE in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Chávez was found to be in the country illegally last week after he made fraudulent statements on a 2024 application for permanent residency based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen.
“The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing Friday, referring to charges that Chávez faces for arms and drug trafficking.
The 39-year-old boxer, according to his attorney Michael Goldstein, was picked up on Wednesday by a large number of federal agents while he was riding a scooter in front of a home where he resides in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City, near Hollywood.
The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California.
Chávez split his time between both countries. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Chávez for overstaying a tourist visa that he entered the U.S. with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
According to the department, Chávez Jr. has been charged with several crimes while in the U.S.
On Jan. 22, 2012, the California Highwaay Patrol arrested Chávez and charged him with DUI alcohol/drugs and driving without a license. On June 23, 2012, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, convicted Chávez of the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced him to 13 days in jail and 36 months’ probation.
On Jan. 14, 2023, a District Judge issued an arrest warrant for Chávez for the offense of organized crime for the purpose of committing crimes of weapons trafficking and manufacturing crimes, in the modality of those who participate in clandestinely bringing weapons, ammunition, cartridges, explosives into the country; and those who manufacture weapons, ammunition, cartridges and explosives without the corresponding permit.
On Jan. 7, 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Chávez and charged him with Illegal possession of an assault weapon and manufacture or import of a short-barreled rifle. The court convicted Chávez of these charges.’
DHS also suspects Chávez is allegedly believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Chávez’s application was based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, who is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, according to DHS.
According to DHS, in December 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had made a referral to ICE that Chávez was an “egregious public safety threat,” but he was allowed to reenter the country on Jan. 4, 2025 after records indicated the Biden Administration had not made him an immigration enforcement priority.
The Biden administration allowed Chávez to re-enter the country and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry, accorrding to DHS.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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