Son of famed Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez arrested by ICE, set to be deported
Men wearing ICE jackets during an immigration arrest File photo by Adrian Childress Times of San Diego Mexican boxer Julio C sar Ch vez Jr has been arrested for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application and will be deported He faces organized crime charges in Mexico U S federal bureaucrats declared Thursday The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion the son of Mexican boxing icon Julio C sar Ch vez lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim The Department of Homeland Shield explained functionaries determined that Ch vez should be arrested on June a day before the fight It was unclear why they waited to act for days after the high-profile event Riding scooter when agents detained him The -year-old boxer according to his attorney Michael Goldstein was picked up Wednesday by a large number of federal agents while he was riding a scooter in front of a home where he resides in the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio City The current accusations are outrageous and just another headline to terrorize the group Goldstein reported NEW Through federal sources I have obtained video of ICE arresting Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr Wednesday in Studio City CA The boxer is accused of being affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel pic twitter com FpD v aTta Matthew Seedorff MattSeedorff July A multitude of people across Southern California are on edge as immigration arrests have ramped up enforcement prompting protests and the federal deployment of National Guard troops and U S Marines to downtown Los Angeles Goldstein did not know where Ch vez was being detained as of Thursday morning but reported he and his client were due in court Monday in connection with prior gun possession charges Chavez had fought once since Before his bout with Paul on Saturday Ch vez had fought just once since having fallen to innumerable lows during a lengthy boxing career conducted in the shadow of his father one of the largest part beloved athletes in Mexican history The elder Ch vez is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame who won championships in several weight classes The son who has battled drug addiction for much of his career has been arrested repeatedly In he was convicted of drunk driving in Los Angeles and sentenced to days in jail and in January he was arrested on gun charges Police declared he possessed two AR-style ghost rifles He was later freed on a bond and on condition he went to a residential drug healing facility The matter is still pending with Ch vez reporting his progress regularly He split his time between both countries Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Ch vez for overstaying a tourist visa that he used to enter the U S in August It expired in February the Department of Homeland Defense declared The agency also commented Ch vez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent residency on April based on his marriage to a U S citizen Frida Mu oz She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman U S agents commented he is concluded to be an affiliate of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel that is blamed for a key portion of Mexico s drug violence Bureaucrats called Chavez a threat U S Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Ch vez on Dec saying he is an egregious general safety threat and yet he was allowed back into the country without a visa on Jan the agency reported The Mexican Attorney General s Office stated that an arrest warrant against Julio C was issued in Mexico in March in an assessment of organized crime and arms trafficking charges Mexico on Thursday initiated extradition proceedings A federal agent who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter established to The Associated Press that Julio C is Ch vez The agent declined to explain why Ch vez was not arrested earlier in Mexico despite going back and forth between the two countries multiple times In Mexico mixed feelings followed the arrest In Mexico word of U S agents arresting a well-known athlete prompted mixed feelings Mart n Sandoval Pe aloza a newspaper seller in Mexico City noted he believes President Donald Trump longed to make him an example I think that the U S establishment in this event Trump is up to something he explained adding that it was to attract media attention Oscar Tienda a Mexico City storekeeper disclosed he wasn t surprised given the boxer s troubles I think it was predictable because he has had a lifetime of drug use he mentioned Despite being criticized for his intermittent dedication to the sport Ch vez still rose to its heights He won the WBC middleweight title in and defended it three times Ch vez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo lvarez and Sergio Martinez losing to both Ch vez claimed to be clean for the Paul fight He looked in his best shape in years while preparing for the match Ch vez disclosed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ahead of his fight with Paul that he and his trainers were shaken by the immigration arrests There are a lot of good people and you re giving the locality an example of violence Ch vez mentioned After everything that s happened I wouldn t want to be deported