![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/U.S._Customs_and_Border_Protection_officers_inspect_an_outbound_vehicle_at_the_Port_of_DeConcini_in_.jpeg\")
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer inspects an outbound vehicle at a checkpoint in 2024. Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ CBP photo by Jerry Glaser<\/p>\nA U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer inspects an outbound vehicle at a checkpoint in 2024. Credit: Wikimedia Commons \/ CBP photo by Jerry Glaser<\/p>\n
A U.S. citizen\u00a0arrested an hour from San Antonio has been deported to Mexico even though he repeatedly told federal agents he had proof of citizenship at home and offered to show them the documents, according to a report from Univision national correspondent Lidia Terrazas. <\/p>\n
Customs and Border Patrol agents threatened Denver-born Brian Morales, 25, with deportation or prison time after pulling him over in a traffic stop near the Hill Country town of Fredericksburg, Terrazas said in a video posted to Instagram<\/a>. <\/p>\n Although Morales was born in the U.S., his parents took him to Mexico as a toddler, and he isn\u2019t fluent in English, Terrazas said. He returned the U.S. as an adult, according to her reporting, but crossed the border legally by showing his birth certificate. He was in the process of getting a Real ID, Terrazas added.<\/p>\n Morales alleges three separate CBP agents said they didn\u2019t believe him when he told them he had a birth certificate, Social Security card and other ways of proving his citizenship. The officers threatened him with a fraud charge and five years\u2019 imprisonment if he didn\u2019t sign a voluntary departure order, he also maintains. <\/p>\n In comments to British publication The Independent<\/a>, a DHS spokesperson accused Morales \u2014\u00a0whom the agency identified using a different spelling of his first name \u2014\u00a0of lying about his status. <\/p>\n \u201cCBP did NOT arrest a U.S. citizen. On April 3, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Rocksprings, Texas Station interviewed Bryan Jose Morales-Garcia after he was encountered by Gillespie County Sheriff\u2019s deputies near Fredericksburg,\u201d the DHS official said. \u201cAgents determined Morales-Garcia was illegally in the U.S. through record checks. Morales-Garcia also admitted he is a Mexican national and he entered the country illegally. He was subsequently removed to Mexico on April 7.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, told Univision in a video interview<\/a>, that Morales\u2019 arrest is the result of years of anti-immigrant rhetoric from politicians.<\/p>\n \u201cICE is often ignoring people when they say, \u2018Hey, I am a U.S. citizen here\u2019s the proof,’\u201d Castro said. \u201cIt\u2019s because they want people gone. And, look, it\u2019s a kind of racial profiling, and they\u2019re not just targeting undocumented Latinos, they\u2019re often targeting any Latino \u2014\u00a0and some U.S. citizens are going to be caught up in that.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump, working in conjunction with advisor Stephen Miller, is working to engineer the largest deportation operation in American history, and the Republican-controlled Congress provided $170 billion last year to triple ICE\u2019s budget. <\/p>\n However, the effects of that deportation sweep have brought chaos to the streets of cities including Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles and led to the deaths of at least three U.S. citizens at the hands of officers. <\/p>\n Vanessa C\u00e1rdenas, executive director of immigrant-advocacy group America\u2019s Voice, said Morales\u2019 arrest and deportation is another example of the Trump administration\u2019s disregard for fundamental rights as it continues its anti-immigrant agenda. <\/p>\n \u201cThe continued examples of U.S. citizens being detained and deported are a built-in feature of the Trump and Miller mass deportation crusade and the culture that prioritizes speed and quotas instead of accuracy, accountability or dignity,\u201d C\u00e1rdenas said in an email to the Current. \u201cBrian Morales needs to be returned to the U.S. immediately and all of us need to demand an end to the out-of-control mass deportation machinery. Our constitutional rights are under siege.\u201d<\/p>\n Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\t\u2018I did not receive a response from your predecessor; however, I hope to have a more productive and transparent engagement with your office,\u2019 Jones wrote to the new DHS secretary. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Mayor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/An_ICE_ERO_officer_monitors_a_detention_facility_in_Buffalo_NY_50044150878.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Report:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/U-1.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement_ICE_Enforcement_and_Removal_Operations_ERO_officers_in_We.jpeg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Groups](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/u.s._immigration_and_customs_enforcement_charles_reed_.jpg_copy.webp.webp.jpeg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n