(The Center Square) – As Democratic officials in California, including in Los Angeles, continued to expand so-called sanctuary city protections for illegal foreign nationals and fight President-elect Donald Trump’s deportation plans, at least one alleged California arsonist has been confirmed to be in the U.S. illegally with an extensive criminal record, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
One “person of interest” was arrested after being caught on video holding a blowtorch near the source of the Kenneth Fire. The fire spanned more than 1,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, destroying entire neighborhoods.
A 33-year-old Mexican national, Juan Manuel Sierra, also known as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, was recently arrested for “attempting to start a fire” in a West Hills neighborhood and “is a suspect in connection with the nearly 1,000-acre blaze,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to Los Angeles County Jail records, he has an ICE detainer request.
Sierra-Leyva “entered the U.S. unlawfully at an unknown date and location without inspection by an immigration official,” ICE said in a statement, meaning he was a gotaway.
The Center Square first began reporting on gotaway data in 2021 after obtaining information from a Border Patrol agent. Gotaways is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term for those who illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry, intentionally evaded capture and didn’t return to Mexico or Canada. CBP does not publicly report gotaway data.
Under the Biden administration, more than two million gotaways were reported solely by Border Patrol agents, according to data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent and first reported.
The Mexican national has yet to be charged with starting the fire but has an extensive criminal history. He had “multiple encounters with law enforcement from November 2016 to present for a variety of charges and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon Oct. 10, 2023, in Van Nuys,” ICE said in a statement. He was recently arrested by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department for a felony probation violation stemming from an October 2023 assault conviction.
It remains unclear why ICE had not previously detained or processed him for removal.
Under the Biden administration, more than 535,000 illegal border crossers were reported in California in fiscal 2024, The Center Square exclusively reported, excluding gotaways.
The greatest number of illegal border crossers in California have been historically reported in the CBP San Diego Sector. In fiscal 2024, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended at least 324,260 illegal border crossers, representing a 40% increase from their fiscal year 2023 apprehensions, The Center Square reported.
In fiscal 2023, there were over 101,000 gotaways reported in California and nearly 413,000 apprehensions, The Center Square exclusively reported.
As Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, put pressure on cartel traffickers, illegal border crossers were moved west, with the San Diego Sector becoming the epicenter of the border crisis, The Center Square first reported in February 2024 and again in April as the crisis worsened.
There were nearly 3 million illegal border crossers reported nationwide in fiscal 2024 and roughly 14 million under the Biden administration, The Center Square reported.
California sheriffs have expressed opposition to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s policies with one California sheriff telling members of Congress his policies turned California into “an open territory for the cartel to do whatever it wants.”
Regardless of local or state policies, Trump’s deportation strategy includes targeting criminals in sanctuary jurisdictions.