Authorities say the case of a Mexican man who illegally entered the U.S. multiple times highlights the dangers of repeat border crossers and sanctuary city policies.
EXCLUSIVE - A Mexican man who illegally entered the United States at least five times was arrested following his conviction for abducting and enticing a child.
Leonardo Ignot-Osto, 40, was in the Scott County Jail in Illinois when he was arrested on Sunday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
"This is who ICE is arresting in Chicago, a criminal alien that repeatedly entered the U.S. illegally and went to commit heinous crimes against a child," said ICE Assistant Director for Public Affairs Emily Covington.
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Ignot-Osto illegally entered the U.S. at least five times dating back to 2005, ICE said.
U.S. Border Patrol encountered him four times in 2005, and each time, he voluntarily returned to Mexico. He snuck back into the country for at least the fifth time prior to his first criminal conviction in the U.S., authorities said.
On April 15, 2025, he was charged in Illinois with abduction, kidnapping a child, and two counts of enticement of a child for indecent purposes, ICE said.
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On Sept. 18, he was found guilty of child abduction and luring a child under 17 and sentenced to a year in prison.
"This man is clearly a public safety threat, and if the sanctuary city of Chicago would have turned him over to us after his first conviction in 2010, he wouldn’t have been here to victimize an innocent child," Covington said.
Ignot-Osto is currently being held by ICE pending deportation proceedings.
Immigration authorities have been operating in the Chicago area in an effort to curb crime and deport criminal illegal immigrants, despite heavy push back from local and state officials.
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