The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced on March 20 that it brought immigration-related criminal charges against 185 individuals during enforcement operations conducted from March 14 through March 20, 2026. The cases include charges for illegal re-entry, illegal entry, and smuggling of undocumented immigrants within the district.
According to the announcement, federal authorities filed 108 cases involving illegal re-entry into the United States and charged 53 individuals with illegal entry. Additionally, prosecutors brought 20 cases against a total of 24 people accused of smuggling undocumented immigrants.
These enforcement actions were supported by several federal law enforcement agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO), ICE Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
Recent cases highlighted in the release include United States v. Ruby Chaidez, where a Pinal County Sheriff’s deputy discovered an unlawfully present Mexican citizen hiding in a vehicle trunk after stopping Ruby Chaidez for expired registration and learning about outstanding arrest warrants. In United States v. Esteban Caldera-Serrato, Caldera-Serrato was charged with re-entry after removal; he had previously been deported following a felony forgery conviction in Georgia. Another case involved Aaron Cruz-Valderas, who was charged with transportation of an illegal alien for profit after attempting to evade Border Patrol agents before being apprehended in the desert.
These prosecutions are part of Operation Take Back America, which aims to use Department of Justice resources to address unlawful immigration and target cartels and transnational criminal organizations through initiatives such as Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The office noted that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
