For nearly 40 years, Jaime Ernesto Alvarez Gonzalez lived a version of the “American Dream.” Though the Mexican citizen overstayed his visa as a teenager and had no legal right to be in the U.S., he made a life in San Diego, starting a family, volunteering at his church and establishing two businesses that employed five people. As a young man, he even aspired to become a law enforcement officer.
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In January, Alvarez was caught playing out that fantasy when he disrupted an immigration enforcement operation in Linda Vista while dressed similarly to a plainclothes Border Patrol agent and driving a black pickup decked out in police accessories, including a light bar. Later investigation revealed he had a second vehicle featuring similar accessories and a stash of license plates, clothing and fake credentials bearing law enforcement insignia.
Alvarez, 53, subsequently pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to one count of impersonating a Border Patrol agent and three counts of illegally possessing firearms. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro sentenced him to six months in prison and three years of supervised release. With credit for time he’s already been in custody, he’ll likely be released in just a few weeks.
He is expected to be deported to Mexico upon his release, which his attorney indicated would be a consequence harsher than a lengthy prison term, given that he’ll be unable to return to his businesses or visit his family, including his two adult children, who live in the U.S.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said Alvarez’s conduct was egregious, but also “uniquely strange” for someone living in the U.S. unlawfully. Prosecutors said Alvarez even told investigators after his arrest that he was supportive of Border Patrol.
“There may be some truth to his claim,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Siddharth Dadhich wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “His (immigration) file contains a letter … written by him nearly thirty years ago in which he made clear that he aspired to become an officer of the law.”
Alvarez landed on the radar of federal law enforcement on Jan. 8 when he began following a real Border Patrol agent through Linda Vista while driving a black Ford F-150 decked out in law enforcement accessories and insignia. The truck had communications antennae on the roof, a light bar on the dash, handcuffs hanging from the rearview mirror, a “United States Border Patrol” sticker on the front windshield and a license plate holder that read “Ferderal (sic) Truck,” according to prosecutors and documents in the case.
Alvarez also wore a facemask similar to ones worn by immigration officers to hide their identities, and a “thin green line” hat associated with Border Patrol agents and their supporters, according to his plea agreement.
The legitimate Border Patrol agent, who prosecutors said was working on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement task force, “was forced to abandon his law enforcement mission” out of concern that Alvarez might be a real federal agent working on a different assignment in the same area, according to the plea agreement.
Alvarez admitted in his plea that he video-recorded and narrated the entire incident, and said during the recording that he was actively looking for federal officers involved in deportation missions. Prosecutors alleged that Alvarez followed the legitimate agent into a parking lot, and when other federal officers arrived as backup to investigate, Alvarez “caused a public commotion and aggressively told officers to leave his community.”
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The federal officers departed the scene, followed by three vehicles that Alvarez described in his video as “reinforcements,” according to a prosecution filing.
So why did the father and business owner who was in the process of trying to obtain legal residency do what he did that day? Defense attorney Cindy Muro wrote in sentencing documents that it was his misguided attempt to protest the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown during a particularly contentious time, just a day after an ICE agent fatally shot Renée Good in Minnesota.
“Mr. Alvarez Gonzalez witnessed people who looked like him being picked up on the streets by ICE,” Muro wrote. “He saw the news about parents being arrested by ICE as they dropped their children off at school. He heard about his neighbors who were too afraid to leave their homes in fear that they, too, might be deported.”
Muro wrote that by following the Border Patrol agent that day and trying to warn others in his Linda Vista neighborhood that an immigration operation was underway, he “thought he was doing what he could to protect his neighbors. He now understands he went about it the wrong way. But it was this desire to help his community that got him arrested.”
Federal agents arrested Alvarez about a week after he followed the Border Patrol agent. Prosecutors alleged that during the arrest, he was not driving the pickup from before, but rather a second vehicle that also had a light bar. There was also an FBI hat on that vehicle’s dashboard, and Alvarez was allegedly carrying a fake FBI identification card, according to a court filing by prosecutors.
During a later search of his San Diego home, agents also found license plates with “CIA,” “INTERPOL” and “SHERIFF” printed on them, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection “no trespassing” sign that appeared to be stolen, as well as other law enforcement paraphernalia, according to prosecutors.
After his arrest, investigators also learned that Alvarez had been in possession of guns, which was illegal due to his unlawful immigration status. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing a 9mm pistol, an AR-style rifle and an AK-style pistol, according to his plea agreement.
Prosecutors wrote in sentencing documents that they were not aware of any instance in which he used firearms “to further his impersonation activities” and that it did not appear that he used his impersonation or access to firearms to threaten anyone.
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