EXCLUSIVE: An illegal immigrant who re-entered the U.S.five times said his drinking is the "mistake" that finally led to his arrest by U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement early Thursday morning.Ernesto Alejandro Perez-Garcia, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE in Redondo Beach, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.Perez-Garcia has a history of arrests dating to 2003 for alcohol-, controlled substance- and driving-related offenses, as well as making terroristic threats and illegally re-entering the U.S.
ICE said he illegally entered the country five times and made four additional attempts to enter.Fox News Digital witnessed ICE arrest Perez-Garcia on Thursday.When agents first encountered him on the Redondo Beach esplanade, he denied his identity.
However, when confronted with a previous mugshot, Perez-Garcia acknowledged that he was the man they were seeking.After ICE booked and processed him, Perez-Garcia told Fox News Digital that he lied to agents "to see if I could get away with it." He said that after he was confronted with his mugshot, he realized, "I’m busted, you know, in other words, I’m f---ed."ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASED UNDER BIDEN ACCUSED OF STABBING VIRGINIA MOTHER, DOUSING HER IN GASOLINEICE agents arrest Mexican national Ernesto Alejandro Perez-Garcia in Redondo Beach, California, after he illegally entered the U.S.multiple times.
(Fox News)Perez-Garcia said that despite national headlines about ICE operations, he did not expect to be arrested Thursday morning.He said he was on his usual morning walk when agents encountered him."Once I saw the officer … with the picture of me, there was no way I was going to run," he said."At the end of the day," he continued, "it’s the alcohol that got me back in this mess." While he said a friend’s recent death "got me caught up [in alcoholism]," he said, "It shouldn’t have, so it’s my mistake, and I’ve got to be responsible for that."Perez-Garcia first entered the U.S.
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