Mississippi working with ICE to deport illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes, child exploitation

A Mississippi District Attorney's Office announced a new partnership with ICE that includes deporting illegal immigrant inmates who have been charged with violent, sexual, and other crimes, rather than detaining them in county jail.

DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton said it will be up to US Border Patrol and ICE to ensure the illegal immigrants do not return after deportation. Barton said at least one attempted murder suspect is already in ICE custody and will be deported back to his home country, while 13 others will soon follow in his footsteps. The district attorney touted the partnership as a cost-cutting solution for taxpayers who should not have to pay for illegal immigrants' jail stints, Fox 13 reports.

The illegal immigrants who face deportation have been charged with various crimes, including attempted murder, sexual battery, identity theft, shoplifting, charges related to child pornography, and other felony and misdemeanor crimes.

"We are talking about people we don't want to foot the bill for," said Barton, explaining the move will save taxpayers more than $100,000 per year. "We don't want them in our community, we don't want to be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep these people in our jail."

 

Jail booking photos of the illegal migrants facing deportation. Credit: DeSoto County District Attorney's Office

DA Barton said attempted murder suspect Miguel Godinez was the first to be remanded to ICE custody, and his office has been working diligently to get the 13 others deported "as quickly as we can." After the migrants are deported from the US, Barton explained it will be up to their home countries and ICE to prosecute their alleged crimes.

The collaboration with ICE, the district attorney said, was initiated during the court proceedings for Godinez's attempted murder charge earlier this month. A DeSoto County assistant DA was sentenced to jail time for contempt of court after failing to attend a hearing and postponing the case. Barton said he was able to prevent the ADA from serving jail time; however, the circumstance compelled him to conduct a more thorough examination of Godinez's case. He stated that he chose to deport Godinez rather than address the remaining aspects of the court case and intends to apply the same principle to all illegal immigrants charged with crimes in DeSoto County.

"I would say they came here illegally; they're not supposed to be here to begin with," Barton said when Fox 13 asked him about the law saying a person is innocent until proven guilty. "Regardless of whether they're guilty of the crime we are accusing them of, they are guilty of being here illegally."

"We've put procedures in place in this office so we can identify these types of offenders and get them out quicker than before," he added.

The inmates to be deported come from several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Their names and charges, if made available, are shown below in a screenshot from the Fox 13 report. WJTV also reported that some have been charged with counts related to child pornography. 



District Attorney Barton is the youngest and first-ever Republican elected to the position in the county's history. He assumed office in January 2024, according to the DA's website.