Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. arrested by ICE for deportation, federal officials say

LOS ANGELES AP Famed 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 to Mexico where he faces organized crime charges U S federal leaders explained Thursday The arrest came only days after the former middleweight champion lost a match against influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim California The Department of Homeland Measure mentioned authorities determined 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 The boxer was riding a 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 near Hollywood The current accusations are outrageous and completely another headline to terrorize the district Goldstein mentioned A great number of people across Southern California are on edge as immigration arrests have ramped up 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 explained he and his client were due in court Monday in connection with prior gun possession charges Before his latest bout Chavez 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 Julio C sar Ch vez one of the bulk beloved athletes in Mexican history and 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 reported he possessed two AR-style ghost rifles He was later freed on a bond and on condition he went to a residential drug medicine facility The affair 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 entered the U S with in August and expired in February the Department of Homeland Defense explained The agency also explained 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 officers reported he is thought to be an affiliate of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel that is blamed for a notable portion of Mexico s drug violence Federal officers called Chavez a populace safety threat U S Citizenship and Immigration Services flagged Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Ch vez on Dec saying he is an egregious constituents safety threat and yet he was allowed back into the country without a visa on Jan under the Biden administration the agency commented Mexico s Attorney General s Office commented that an arrest warrant against Julio C was issued in Mexico in March in an analysis of organized crime and arms trafficking charges and that 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 authenticated 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 revealed he believes President Donald Trump demanded to make him an example I think that the U S cabinet in this scenario Trump is up to something he revealed adding that it was to attract media attention Oscar Tienda a Mexico City storekeeper announced he wasn t surprised given the boxer s troubles I think it was predictable because he has had a lifetime of drug use he explained Despite widely 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 reported 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 population an example of violence Ch vez explained After everything that s happened I wouldn t want to be deported - Associated Press journalists Carlos Rodriguez Fabiola Sanchez and Mart n Silva in Mexico City contributed to this story Watson released from San Diego Source