Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed that Mexican brothers suspected of killing a North Carolina sheriff's deputy are illegal immigrants.
Alder Alfonso Marin Sotelo, 25, Arturo Marin Sotelo, 29, and Rolando Marin Sotelo, 18, all entered the country illegally, according to the Washington Times.
Alfonso and Arturo face charges of murdering North Carolina Sheriff's Deputy Ned Byrd, 48, on Aug. 11 in Raleigh. Rolando has not been charged in connection with Byrd's death, but he does face a charge for ammunition possession, per the outlet.
Arturo was caught in 2010 attempting to cross the border but authorities stopped him and sent him back to Mexico. He returned at an unknown date. Rolando was first caught in Arizona in 2019. He was subsequently deported and later reentered the country under a "parole" exemption, the Times noted.
The Department of Homeland Security under Alejandro Mayorkas has made significant use of parole to release illegal immigrants into the U.S. interior while they await their court date. At least 120,600 illegal migrants were released from Customs and Border Protection custody under this rule as of May.
Alder received a citation in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2021 for illegal possession of a firearm, but authorities dropped the case when he twice failed to appear in court, the Washington Times reported.
Amid record migration figures, the Biden administration has faced intense scrutiny for its lax approach to border enforcement. Public pressure and a further migration surge ultimately resulted in the White House quietly ordering the continued construction of the border wall, former President Donald Trump's signature project which Democrats firmly resisted.
Advocates for border security condemned the lax enforcement of the law at the southern border following the revelation of the Sotelos' immigration status.
“The Sotelo brothers should have never been in America in the first place and should have had ICE detainers placed on them through 287(g) programs when previously encountered by police,” Americans for Legal Immigration PAC President William Gheen told the Times.
