Illegal Immigrant Deported 6 Times Charged with Kidnapping Alabama Teen Girl
HOLTVILLE, Ala.
January 13, 2025
An illegal immigrant accused of kidnapping an Alabama teen was deported six times before his latest alleged crime, a federal immigration official told The National News Desk.
Yordy Centeno-Melchor, 30, entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown place and time, according to ICE. Federal agents said they most recently encountered Centeno-Melchor on January 3 after his arrest for attempted kidnapping.
Elmore County, Ala. Sheriff Bill Franklin told local outlets the Mexican national attempted to kidnap a teenage girl at a store in Holtville, Alabama on New Year’s Eve.
Centeno-Melchor was booked by the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office on a second-degree kidnapping charge last week. His bond was set at $100,000.
Federal officers said they filed an immigration detainer against Centeno-Melchor. Detainers ask local jurisdictions to hold a suspect past their release date as ICE weighs deportation proceedings against them.
Some authorities will purposefully ignore these requests in defiance of immigration policies. This generally occurs in areas known as “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
ICE has an “extensive” history with Centeno-Melchor dating back to 2013. Centeno-Melchor had been removed from the country six different times during that span and was federally convicted twice for illegal entry, ICE told TNND.
He was first arrested near Kingsville, Texas in 2013 and was granted a voluntary return to Mexico. Centeno-Melchor returned in May 2013 through Brownsville, Texas.
An El Paso, Texas immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Centeno-Melchor in May 2016. Centeno-Melchor returned to the U.S. again in 2018 near San Diego, California.
United States Border Patrol officials arrested him in January 2019 near Jacumba, California. The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California convicted Centeno-Melchor of illegal reentry and sentenced him to time served.
Border Patrol again arrested Centeno-Melchor near Hildalgo, Texas in September 2019. The U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas again convicted him for illegal reentry and sentenced him to 10 days confinement.
Border Patrol arrested him again near Eagle Pass, Texas in October 2020.
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan on Sunday issued a stern warning to migrants illegally entering the U.S. in the final days of the Biden administration, saying “you’re going home.”
“We are trying, but this administration, even after what happened the last couple of days, they’re still bringing thousands through the CBP One app, the CHNV program from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela,” Homan said of the Biden administration. “They’re going to do as much damage as they can until President Trump walks back to that office.”
TNND
