The Biden administration’s border mismanagement has left a major Texas city reeling from rampant illegal migrant crime, according to Texas GOP Rep. Chip Roy.
Jose Fredi Rivera-Mejia, a 44-year-old Honduran national, allegedly shot three people in the head on Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, in a chaotic crime spree that left one of his victims dead, according to law enforcement. Federal immigration officials have since confirmed that, not only was Rivera-Mejia living in the U.S. unlawfully, but that he had already been deported from the country three separate times.
“Violent crimes like this have no place in San Antonio — much less at the hands of illegal aliens who shouldn’t even be here,” Roy stated to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The congressman, whose district represents part of the city, says San Antonio and other communities are still reeling from migrant-related crime supercharged by the Biden administration’s border crisis.
Jose Fredi Rivera-Mejia. ICE image
“In the last four years, San Antonio — which I am proud to represent — has been ravaged by illegal alien crime due to the open-borders and pro-criminal policies led by the Biden-Harris administration,” Roy continued.
San Antonio became a hub for the many illegal migrants crossing the southern border in record waves under the Biden administration. In December 2022, more than 37,000 migrants descended into the city, according to figures provided by the San Antonio Migrant Dashboard. More than 600,000 of them arrived from early 2021 to the summer of 2024.
This wave of illegal immigration largely correlated with a rise in crime, with 2021 becoming the deadliest year in San Antonio since the 1990s.
Rivera-Mejia, who also goes by the alias Wilfredo Lopez, allegedly shot three of his family members — including the mother of his children, his eldest son and his girlfriend — in the head and then fled in a vehicle with his other children before being captured, according to KENS 5. His 22-year-old son later died at the hospital.
The Honduran national has since been charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to authorities. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed to the DCNF that Rivera-Mejia has an extensive immigration and criminal history in the U.S.
ICE officers encountered Rivera-Mejia in November 2009 after he was arrested in San Antonio for assault and he was deported back to his home country in February 2010, according to the agency. ICE encountered him again in December 2012 after he was arrested in San Antonio for driving under the influence and deported him in January 2013. Border Patrol agents caught him illegally crossing the border in July 2015 and he was removed to Honduras for a third time in August of that year.
The repeat border crosser later entered the U.S. again at an unknown date and location, according to ICE. The agency has lodged a detainer for Rivera-Mejia with local law enforcement.
Roy noted that a secure southern border would’ve likely prevented the tragedy that just recently occurred.
“Texans should never fall victim to the totally preventable crime of illegal aliens and should lead the way when it comes to law and order,” Roy stated to the DCNF. “It’s high time that the federal and state governments stand firm with efforts to crack down on crime, especially from illegal aliens.”
“I thank law enforcement for their courageous actions of apprehending the suspect, and I hope this criminal illegal alien faces the full power of the judicial system — after being deported 3 times already,” Roy continued.
Rivera-Mejia’s alleged shooting spree was just the most recent high-profile incident involving an illegal migrant in the San Antonio area.
A Marine Corps veteran in June was left paralyzed and unable to speak after an illegal migrant allegedly shot him while he worked as a security guard, with his family enraged after learning that the Democratic district attorney in San Antonio had previously let the assailant walk free following multiple previous arrests. In March, the Texas Department of Public Safety in San Antonio arrested one of the state’s “10 most wanted,” a Cameroonian illegal migrant accused of sexual assault.
Roy had previously demanded answers after a Venezuelan illegal migrant in July 2024 got into a deadly shootout with San Antonio police. The nearby Migrant Resource Center had processed well over half a million foreign nationals amid the border crisis that raged during the Biden administration, Roy noted at the time, leaving many migrants free to roam the U.S.
Since re-entering office, the Trump administration has reached unprecedented success in its quest to eliminate illegal immigration. Earlier in August, the White House celebrated three consecutive months of zero releases at the southern border, a consequence of minimal illegal migrant activity. Texas border residents have since expressed elation over the illegal immigration crisis being over.
Concurrently, crime in San Antonio has continued to drop since the beginning of 2025. Of the foreign nationals ICE agents have arrested in the San Antonio area, the vast majority of them carry criminal ties.
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