Repeat Border Crosser Dumped to Patrol

⏱ 2 min read

Belgrade, Montana – Juan Diego Rojas-Meneses, 20, a Mexican national, got a quick trip from the courtroom to a Border Patrol van this week. The kid was sentenced to 219 days – basically time already served – after pleading guilty to illegally sneaking back into the country after being deported twice last year.

Belgrade PD and federal agents hit a residence on August 12th, 2025, and found Rojas-Meneses inside, admitting he had no papers. Turns out, he’d already been booted from the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, on September 1st and September 23rd, 2024. No applications for legal reentry were ever filed, making this a clear-cut violation.

Judge Dana L. Christensen handed down the sentence after the guilty plea in November 2025. AUSA Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case, a joint effort involving the U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Belgrade Police Department, and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations.

Federal officials are touting the case as part of “Operation Take Back America,” a broad DOJ campaign focused on illegal immigration and the ever-vague “transnational criminal organizations.” Translation: more boots on the border and more arrests for folks trying to cross.