𝗨.𝗦. 𝗖𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔/𝗖𝗜𝗨𝗗𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙-𝗗𝗘𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧

    by Jim Barton                                      

Southbound pedestrian walkway for Roma/Ciudad Miguel Aleman International Bridge

In a story that raises troubling questions about the limits of border enforcement and the meaning of “self-deportation,” a Mexican citizen attempting to leave the United States voluntarily was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) while walking southbound on an international bridge from Roma, Texas, to Miguel Aleman, Mexico.

Jose Luis Perez Lopez, who had a lengthy immigration history in the U.S., said he was simply trying to return to Mexico, not sneak in, not evade detection, just leave. His defense attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Yvonne M. Gomez, said in court that Perez was “trying to do the right thing,” responding to the federal government’s own calls for undocumented immigrants to leave voluntarily.

Indeed, the Trump administration had spent millions on public messaging and a smartphone app encouraging “self-deportation.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem even issued a stark warning in a nationally broadcast ad: “Leave now. If you don’t, we will find you. And we will deport you.” That message was echoed by Trump’s immigration officials and widely covered by conservative media.

Perez, according to his attorneys, took the message seriously. After years of trying to build a life in the U.S. through labor jobs and failed attempts to reunite with his daughter in North Carolina, he gave up and headed for the bridge.

Instead of being allowed to cross, Perez was stopped by CBP agents conducting what they call “southbound enforcement.” Agents asked his nationality, and when Perez answered that he was from Mexico and lacked legal status in the U.S., they arrested him.

To most observers, it may seem illogical that someone walking out of the country would be detained by border agents whose mission, at least publicly, is focused on stopping illegal entries into the United States. But CBP insists that enforcement works both ways, especially when criminal history is involved.

CBP's southbound operations are aimed at intercepting people who may be smuggling weapons, bulk cash, or involved in organized crime, not just migrants entering illegally. A former CBP officer, now immigration attorney Douglas A. A’Hern, told reporters that in practice, the agency doesn't draw much distinction based on direction. “If you’re encountered and you’re in the United States, it doesn’t seem to matter if you’re walking south or north… They’re going to pick you up and charge you.”

And that’s what happened to Perez. Despite being steps away from Mexican soil, he was still technically on the U.S. side of the bridge, and to CBP, that was enough. His record, which included multiple deportations, voluntary returns, and a 10-year-old drug conviction, gave the government all the justification it needed to prosecute him for illegal reentry.

Gomez, his attorney, argued that there was no danger, no flight risk, no intent to harm, just a man, with a mop and a shovel for a résumé, who decided to walk away from a life that had become increasingly untenable.

“Mr. Perez knows that he did wrong,” Gomez acknowledged. “As far as trying to come back into the United States.” But this time, he was doing the opposite. “In the moment of everything happening in the news, he felt a need to self-deport. So he actually went.  He was trying to do that.”

Yet even that wasn’t enough to spare him prosecution. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton sentenced Perez to eight months in federal prison. After serving his time, he will again be deported, officially this time.

The irony is hard to ignore. A man responded to the federal government’s call to “self-deport,” walked to the border on his own, and was taken into custody for doing exactly what authorities had encouraged. The question for many now is whether “self-deportation” was ever a genuine option or just a talking point in a broader strategy of deterrence.

As for Perez, the court record suggests he never expected mercy, just a path back to his country. What he got was another prison sentence in the nation he was trying to leave.