Deported 4 times, KC-area Mexican man with violent past faces 6 years in prison

After four deportations and a stream of convictions for assault and drunk driving, a longtime Kansas City-area resident has been sentenced to more than 57 months in prison for unlawfully returning to the United States.

A federal court in Kansas City, Kan., handed the punishment Monday to Jorge Carrillo-Hernandez, 37, whose criminal record in Johnson and Wyandotte counties date to 2000. That’s when the Mexican citizen was charged in the first of three incidents of driving under the influence.

The U.S. Attorney’s office for the District of Kansas announced the sentence amid heightened public interest — and inflamed debate — over the federal government’s spotlight on undocumented persons who pose a serious risk to society.

In 2003 Carrillo-Hernandez was convicted of aggravated battery against a girlfriend. Eight years later he was convicted of domestic battery against his wife. Both offenses occurred in Johnson County.

He first entered the country with his family when he was eight months old and has lived around Kansas City since he was a teenager, court records state. But as the driving and assault arrests swelled, so did the deportations — in 2003, 2009, 2012 and 2016.

In addition to Carrillo-Hernandez’s 57-month prison term for aggravated re-entry, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson tacked on an additional 24 months for his returning illegally after being deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while still under probation in the U.S. on one of his criminal convictions.

Deported persons who illegally return to the U.S. may face a one- to two-year sentence when federal prosecutors press felony charges. Heavier penalties such as those leveled at Carrillo-Hernandez are reserved for “frequent fliers,” said James Cross, public information officer for U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

Carrillo-Hernandez’s public defender, Laquisha Ross, argued in a sentencing memorandum: “Jorge’s reasoning for repeatedly returning to the United States is simple. He has lived in this country for as long as he could remember, and his family lives here. He has no ties — social, political, familial, economic or otherwise.”

He has two children living in the Kansas City area, Ross noted.

Immigration-rights advocates cite studies showing that native-born Americans are more likely to commit serious crimes than are immigrants living in the U.S.

But in stepping up criminal prosecutions of undocumented migrants, ICE and President Donald Trump have stressed examples of violent acts committed by some. The debate intensified last week when Iowa authorities charged an alleged undocumented immigrant from Mexico in the murder of college student Mollie Tibbetts.

This story was originally published August 28, 2018 at 6:27 PM.