KEY LARGO, Fla. – U.S. Border Patrol agents recently detained the driver of a blue Mitsubishi in the Florida Keys.
Manuel Perez was holding a cup of coffee before getting in a marked pickup truck. He was one of many subjects in a targeted enforcement operation to get the most serious offenders off the streets. U.S. Border Patrol agents drove him to the Marathon Border Patrol Station.
Agents reported Perez, a registered sex offender, came to South Florida illegally from Cuba.
“I know my own criminal history,” Perez said later adding, “I have been here 70 years. I’ve got three kids. I’ve got 8 grandkids.”
The convicted felon’s criminal record includes sex crimes with a child, aggravated assault, and drug trafficking.
“He is definitely a guy we want to get out of the community,” said U.S. Border Patrol agent Nick Brady.
U.S. Border Patrol agents later drove him to the Marathon Border Patrol Station for processing before he is expected to be taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
The work can be dangerous. Over the last few weeks, U.S. Border Patrol agents have arrested nearly a dozen people in the Florida Keys -- mostly convicted sex offenders.
The group with U.S. removal orders includes a man found guilty of choking and punching a dog and a convicted murderer.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers pulled over a woman for a traffic violation and later learned she was wanted by the feds after a judge’s final order of removal for skipping a court date a decade ago. U.S. Border Patrol also arrested her and took her to the station in Marathon.
“She has a final order of removal by a judge,” an undercover agent told Local 10 News. “At the end of the day, we have no option. We have to apprehend her.”
U.S. Border Patrol agents say their focus is still on those with violent histories, and they credit partnerships with FHP, ICE and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for helping them enforce the law.