A person tried self-deporting to El Salvador. Immigration brokers stopped him on the SFO jetway

OAKLAND — After already being deported as soon as following a toddler intercourse crime conviction, Jeisson Escobar-Valencia knew staying in america was “untenable” as a migrant dwelling within the nation illegally, in keeping with federal courtroom filings.

So he purchased a one-way ticket to El Salvador, went to San Francisco Worldwide Airport for his July 23 flight and handed by means of safety — all with the aim of self-deporting again to his native nation.

He made it so far as the jetway.

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Steps away from boarding the airplane, Division of Homeland Safety brokers swooped in and detained him. The TACA Worldwide Airways direct flight to San Salvador left with out him, presumably together with his seat in 26A going empty for the 5-hour-plus journey.

Since then, he’s confronted a federal felony case for being within the nation illegally, which is anticipated to finish with him being deported to El Salvador, current courtroom testimony and authorized filings present.

On Thursday, three weeks after being stopped on the airport, a federal decide in Oakland sentenced him to spend yet another day in jail. After that, federal authorities are more likely to start the method of sending Escobar-Valencia again overseas, stated U.S. District Decide Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers throughout Thursday’s listening to. In the event that they don’t, then Escobar-Valencia should serve three years on supervised launch, the decide stated.

The case ranks among the many first of an anticipated wave of newly fast-tracked felony immigration proceedings on the federal courthouse in downtown Oakland. Assistant U.S. Lawyer Thomas Inexperienced stated in courtroom Thursday that extra circumstances like Escobar-Valencia’s are more likely to be filed within the coming months, although he supplied no different particulars of his workplace’s plans.

All of it comes as federal immigration authorities ramp up President Donald Trump’s long-promised immigration crackdown, with office raids in Southern California by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement brokers, and arrests of migrants looking for asylum at courthouses in San Francisco and Harmony.

In tv commercials, Division of Homeland Safety Chief Kristi Noem has gone as far as to command migrants to “do what’s right — leave now.”

“If you don’t, we will find you and we will deport you,” Noem stated in a single advert. Her warnings often include a promise of $1,000 for any migrants prepared to self-deport again to their house nations.

Usually, felony prosecutions for the kind of cost that Escobar-Valencia confronted — unlawful reentry following elimination subsequent to a felony conviction — are mostly filed at the united statesMexico border, stated Lisa Knox, co-executive director of the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. On Friday, she questioned the knowledge of stopping somebody from making an attempt to self-deport, significantly given the Trump administration’s calls for for migrants to just do that.

“I don’t know what purpose it serves other than just being punitive and cruel,” stated Knox, including that “there’s numerous sources which can be getting used to primarily preserve this individual in america, who was primarily making an attempt to self-deport.”

Federal authorities first deported Escobar-Valencia on Might 21, 2021, after he served three years in state jail for a 2018 conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a toddler beneath 14 years outdated. Particulars in regards to the case, which was filed in Fresno County, weren’t obtainable Friday.

It additionally stays unclear precisely when Escobar-Valencia returned to america.

Escobar-Valencia’s legal professional, Elisse Marie Larouche, claimed in courtroom filings that he returned to the U.S. someday after being “essentially kidnapped” in December 2021, when a person hidden within the backseat of his car attacked him and held a knife to his neck. He escaped by leaping out of the car, the legal professional wrote.

The courtroom filings included footage of his accidents from the encounter, together with an almost three-inch gash on the correct facet of his neck, one other reduce on his brow and important highway rash on his arm.

Federal prosecutors stated Escobar-Valencia was arrested in Martinez in Contra Costa County again on June 5, 2021 — simply 15 days after first being deported again to El Salvador — on suspicion of failing to register as a intercourse offender.

He was arrested once more on Feb. 14, 2025, within the West Contra Costa County metropolis of Richmond and charged with the identical crime. He pleaded no contest on April 16 and was sentenced to 4 months in jail, with greater than two months of credit score for time served. He was additionally sentenced to 4 months of probation, which was scheduled to finish on Aug. 16.

In courtroom Thursday, Escobar-Valencia’s self-booked flight took middle stage.

His legal professional, Larouche, stated in courtroom filings that Escobar-Valencia purchased the aircraft ticket with the aim of getting his companion and two kids, ages 2 and 1, reunite with him “once he was established there.”

“He decided to leave of his own accord,” Larouche informed Decide Gonzalez Rogers. “He was trying to do the right thing.”

Inexperienced, the federal prosecutor, agreed. He stated sentencing pointers known as for Escobar-Valencia to spend 18 to 24 months in jail after pleading responsible, however the prosecutor as a substitute really helpful a one-day jail time period.

“The defendant has comported himself with civility,” he stated on the listening to. “The defendant is leaving his household, together with two younger kids, and that’s not a small factor for a defendant to be doing.”

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking information reporter. Name, textual content or ship him an encrypted message through Sign at 510-390-2351, or electronic mail him at [email protected].