JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Mexican national who was previously deported from the United States twice has been charged with illegally reentering the country, federal prosecutors announced.
Ignatio Mateos-Herrera, 33, was charged by federal indictment with illegal reentry by a previously deported noncitizen. If convicted, he faces up to two years in federal prison, followed by deportation and removal from the United States.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the charge.
According to the indictment, immigration authorities removed Mateos-Herrera from the United States on March 18, 2016, and again on April 27, 2017.
Federal prosecutors allege that Mateos-Herrera later returned to the United States without authorization. He was arrested June 20, 2026, in the Middle District of Florida.
A review of immigration records found that Mateos-Herrera had not applied for or received permission from U.S. immigration authorities to legally reenter the country following his previous removals, according to prosecutors.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney D. Rodney Brown is prosecuting it.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on immigration enforcement, cartels, transnational criminal organizations and violent crime.
An indictment is an allegation, and Mateos-Herrera is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
