Two foreign nationals convicted of illegally reentering the United States after prior deportations were sentenced in July, according to a statement from United States Attorney David Metcalf. The sentencing took place in Philadelphia federal court.
Rene Vasquez-Ladino, 53, a Guatemalan national, received a sentence of 15 months in prison and one year of supervised release from United States District Judge Joshua D. Wolson for illegal reentry. After serving his prison term, Vasquez-Ladino will be removed from the United States again. He had previously been removed from the country in May 2015 on orders from an immigration judge and was later encountered by U.S. Border Patrol in Texas that September. Following a guilty plea to illegal reentry charges, he served a 60-day prison sentence before being removed again that November.
In September 2019, Vasquez-Ladino was arrested by New York State Police for driving while intoxicated but failed to appear before Yonkers City Court, resulting in a bench warrant for his arrest. In March 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned he was serving time for firearms offenses in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. He was indicted federally for illegal reentry this January and pleaded guilty in March.
Walter Eduardo Enriquez-Arzaga, 29, a Mexican national, was sentenced by United States District Judge Karen Spencer Marston to time served—approximately five and a half months—for illegal reentry. Having completed his sentence, Enriquez-Arzaga will also be removed from the country again. He had previously been removed three times: first following a local firearms conviction in Texas (September 2017), then after an illegal reentry conviction in New Mexico (February 2018), and most recently following an encounter with ICE in Iowa (March 2024). In February this year ICE learned he was held by police in Northampton County, Pennsylvania; he was indicted on illegal reentry charges in March and pleaded guilty this June.
These cases are part of Operation Take Back America—a nationwide initiative that marshals Department of Justice resources to address illegal immigration and target cartels as well as transnational criminal organizations.
The investigations were conducted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Dubnoff and Nicholas DiMarco.