Carlos Guillermo Aragon-Baez is our Minnesota Man of the Day. He has been charged in federal court with one count of illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien.
Aragon, aged 40 or so, is being held in the Sherburne County jail on the federal charge and also on a state-level felony drug charge. His name is also a match for a case out of Sacramento, CA.
Court records indicate that Aragon was convicted of that same illegal re-entry crime back in 2010 in Arizona.
Aragon’s case is one of 90 criminal illegal immigration cases that I’ve been following in federal district court in Minnesota, all filed since Trump regained office back in January. As far as I can determine, these defendants–with the benefit of taxpayer-funded attorneys and translators–are batting zero (0.000). Either you are in this country with the proper authorization, or you are not. There does not appear to be any room for ambiguity or nuance.
Not that you would know any of the above if you obtained your news from the Minnesota Star Tribune. With only one or two exceptions that prove the rules, the Star Tribune does not cover any of these 90 cases.
What the Star Tribune does cover, extensively, are the unvetted sob stories of illegal immigrants thought to have more sympathetic back stories. Case in point is this story yesterday, under the headline,
Federal judges in Minnesota, across U.S., reject ICE attempts to hold immigrants without bond
What the Star Tribune is describing is a different type of legal proceeding, habeas corpus, where ICE detainees sue the federal government in federal court for release. Indeed, I am separately tracking 52 cases of this type filed since January.
They report,
Jose Andres Robles, 34, of Minneapolis, was held in ICE custody at the Freeborn County Jail in Albert Lea for a month without a bond hearing.
I can confirm that Jose Andres Robles Encalada filed Case No. 25-cv-3946 (“cv” stands for “civil”) on October 14. Court records indicate that he is a citizen of Ecuador. In his initial petition, Robles admits to being an illegal immigrant, having entered without authorization (snuck in near Eagle Pass, TX) back in 2019. Robles claims that he has the right to live and work in the United States because he is the victim of a crime (not specified). The Robles victimhood claim has not been reviewed by any court or agency.
The Star Tribune falsely reports, without providing any support,
About 60% of immigrants in the country illegally crossed the border without permission, a misdemeanor. The other 40% entered lawfully and overstayed their visas, which is a civil violation.
As noted above, crossing the border without permission after a previous deportation or as a convicted felon (in the Aragon case cited above, both) is itself a felony crime.
As for the false claim that a visa overstay is a civil violation, that is also a lie. Under the system set up by Congress, the prosecution of visa overstays is done in specialty Immigration Courts, classified as a civil matter. Failure to obey orders from an Immigration Court is a criminal matter.
In fact, just last week, federal prosecutors in Minnesota filed a criminal case against a west African for “failure to depart.”
Oumar Konate had gone through the usual immigration court process and was issued a final order of removal. Konate was on release in that case and failed to appear for his deportation.
Despite his failure to show up in that “civil” matter, the federal judge in his criminal case has released Konate on bond with a next court date not until January 2026.
Aragon is due back in court on November 21.
