Stephanie Sanchez Portillo, Personation in Immigration Matters, California 2023

U.S. Attorney's Office Files 79 Border-Related Cases in California This Week

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 79 border-related cases this week, including charges of assault on a federal officer, bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world's busiest land border crossing, connecting San Diego (America's eighth largest city) and Tijuana (Mexico's second largest city).

In addition to reactive border-related crimes, the Southern District of California also prosecutes a significant number of proactive cases related to terrorism, organized crime, drugs, white-collar fraud, violent crime, cybercrime, human trafficking and national security. Recent developments in those and other significant areas of prosecution can be found here.

A sample of border-related arrests this week:

On August 1, Stephanie Sanchez Portillo, a United States citizen, was arrested and charged with Personation in Immigration Matters. According to a complaint, the defendant attempted to smuggle an unrelated child from Mexico into the U.S. through the San Ysidro Port of Entry pedestrian lanes using her own child's American birth certificate.

On August 2, Edgard Uriel Urbina Jiron, citizen of Nicaragua, was arrested and charged with Transportation of Illegal Aliens. According to a complaint, he was taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents when they made a traffic stop and found that he was driving with an undocumented immigrant in his car.

On August 2, Jose Luis Garcia Cota, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Importation of a Controlled Substance. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found 191 pounds of methamphetamine and 5.5 pounds of cocaine concealed in the defendant's car when he attempted to cross the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

On August 4, Jose Alejandro Valadez-Blancarte, a Mexican citizen, was arrested and charged with Attempted Entry after Deportation. According to a complaint, Customs and Border Protection officers found him hiding in the trunk of a car at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. He was previously deported in January 2025 and June 2025.

Pursuant to the government's Operation Take Back America priorities, federal law enforcement has focused immigration prosecutions on undocumented aliens who are engaged in criminal activity in the U.S., including those who commit drug and firearms crimes, who have serious criminal records, or who have active warrants for their arrest. Federal authorities have also been prioritizing investigations and prosecutions against drug, firearm, and human smugglers and those who endanger and threaten the safety of our communities and the law enforcement officers who protect the community.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/us-attorneys-office-filed-79-border-related-cases-week