US ICE arrests world champion Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr for deportation

Mexican former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been arrested for overstaying his visa in the US. He faces charges in Mexico, to where he will be deported.

Now under arrest, Julio Cesar Chavez at the start of a bout Las Vegas in 2017. Picture: Getty Images

Mexican former world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been arrested for overstaying his visa in the US and lying on a green card ­application. He will be deported to Mexico, where he faces organised crime charges.

Chavez, the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles on Thursday after authorities ­determined he was in the country illegally, Homeland ­Security said in a statement.

Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 39-year-old faced “an active ­arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in ­organised crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives”.

The Mexican public prosecutor’s office said Mexico had issued an arrest warrant for Chavez in 2023 “for organised crime and arms trafficking”. US authorities informed Mexico that they had begun the procedure to send him home, it added.

Homeland Security said Chavez was believed to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organisations by the US. Chavez’s arrest came days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout ­before a sellout crowd in Anaheim, California.

Michael A. Goldstein, a lawyer for Chavez, said Chavez “was ­detained outside of his residence by 25 or more ICE and other law enforcement agents”.

“They blocked off his street and took him into custody, leaving his family without any knowledge of his whereabouts,” Mr Goldstein said. “The current allegations are outrageous and ­appear to be designed as a headline to terrorise the community.”

Homeland Security said Chavez had entered the US in 2023 on a tourist visa that was valid until February 2024. In April last year, he applied for permanent residency based on his marriage to a US citizen “who is connected to the Sinaloa cartel through a prior relationship”

AP