This story — that sadly has a tragic ending — began 15 years ago when an immigration court looked at the case of a Guatemalan national named Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj.

He was arrested in Oklahoma in 2023 — 13 years after he had been deported.

“A check of records confirmed Paxtor’s identity and confirmed he is an alien who was ordered removed by an Immigration Judge on June 29, 2010, and previously removed from the United States to Guatemala on July 9, 2010,” said an affidavit attached to a criminal complaint filed on Dec. 1, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.

This complaint alleged Paxtor had committed “Illegal Reentry After Removal from the United States.”

How did he reenter?

“Paxtor also stated that he last entered the United States illegally in 2011 with the help of a coyote, whom he paid $500,” said this affidavit executed by a special agent for the Department of Homeland Security.

What did he allegedly do here?

An indictment filed in another case in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Feb. 25 made charges against Paxtor and three others, including Eduardo Domingo Renoj-Matul and Helmer Obispo-Hernandez.

“The Renoj-Matul transnational criminal organization (‘Renoj-Matul TCO’) operated for at least a dozen years and specialized in the smuggling of illegal aliens from Guatemala to the United States, the transportation and movement of those illegal aliens within the United States, and the harboring, concealing, and shielding of illegal aliens within the United States,” alleges this indictment. “As such, it was one of the largest human smuggling organizations in the United States, moving approximately 20,000 illegal aliens from 2019 through July 2024.”

“Defendant Jose Paxtor-Oxlaj … was a driver for the Renoj-Matul TCO,” this indictment alleges. “Defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj is a citizen and national of Guatemala and is illegally and unlawfully in the United States.”

“Defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj and other co-conspirators would drive illegal aliens already in the United States throughout the United States in exchange for a fee,” it alleged.

It also included a subsection with this heading: “Transportation of Illegal Aliens Resulting in Death on November 21, 2023.”

“Prior to November 20, 2023, defendant Obispo-Hernandez instructed defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj to transport six illegal aliens … from New York to Los Angeles and one illegal alien … from Oklahoma to Atlanta, Georgia, via Los Angeles,” it says. 

“On November 21, 2023,” it says, “in the area of Elk City, Oklahoma, while transporting illegal aliens K.X.F.C, G.C.S., C.V.X.C, A.A.E.C.T., R.E.T.X., E.V.X.X., and J.M.L.A., and while en route to Los Angeles, defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj caused a vehicle collision that killed illegal aliens …”

The previously deported Paxtor-Oxlaj, who survived, took pictures of the vehicles involved. “On November 21, 2023, after the vehicle collision,” says the indictment, “defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj took photos of the aftermath of the collision and the victims, including the following …”

The indictment then shows two photographs of two smashed up vehicles embedded in each other.

“On November 21, 2023, defendant Paxtor-Oxlaj and defendant Obispo-Hernandez had two WhatsApp video calls following the accident, and defendant Obispo-Hernandez received the preceding two photographs,” the indictment said.

The affidavit that was filed with the criminal complaint against Paxtor-Oxlaj for “Illegal Reentry After Removal” in the Western District of Oklahoma explains what happened next.

“Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) arrested Paxtor on manslaughter charges in violation of Oklahoma State Law, and transported Paxtor to the Beckham County Jail,” it said.

A Homeland Security special agent informed Paxtor of his Miranda rights, but he “waived his rights, and agreed to speak with the investigators.”

“Paxtor stated that earlier in the day (on November 21, 2023) he had been driving passengers in the vehicle from New York to Los Angeles and charged them $300 per person, which he would be paid upon arrival in Los Angeles. Paxtor stated all the passengers in the vehicle were Guatemalan except for one passenger who was Mexican,” said the affidavit.

“Since Paxtor was previously removed,” it alleged, “he knowingly came back to the United States without proper authorization.”

This week, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma issued a press release stating that Paxtor-Oxlaj “has pleaded guilty to illegally reentering after removal from the United States.”

“Six individuals would be alive today, including five children, and another would not have been critically injured, if this defendant did not illegally reenter the United States after his deportation,” said the Western Oklahoma U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

“In Beckham County District Court, Paxtor-Oxlaj was convicted of six counts of first-degree manslaughter and one count of causing accident with great bodily injury without a valid driver’s license,” said the U.S. attorney’s release.

“His failure to comply with our immigration laws has resulted in horrific and tragic consequences which can never be undone,” said Troester.

While this individual was failing “to comply with our immigration laws,” those same laws were being generous to people who obeyed them. In the last eight fiscal years for which the Department of Homeland Security has published complete numbers (2016 through 2023), the United States has granted “lawful permanent resident status” to 8,078,056 immigrants.

They have come from all over the world — including, for example, 15,380 from Guatemala in 2023 alone.

The judge who ordered Paxtor-Oxlaj deported was justly enforcing a just law. The failure to prevent this man’s illegal return resulted in an injustice.

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