Immigration enforcement fail as illegal alien gangster and child predator both walk out of federal court in San Francisco
The absence of immigration enforcement in Northern California was showcased today at San Francisco federal courthouse where two illegal aliens – an armed gang member and a child predator – left court on supervised release and bail respectively.
Miguel Villavivar was sentenced to three years’ probation for being found with a gold-plated Glock during a 2024 traffic stop in Sonoma County. The admitted Sureno’s Instagram account was filled with pictures of firearms he bought and sold, along with images of his gang tattoos and him firing an assault rifle. He is a Mexican national and not permitted to possess guns.
In 2009, after a weapons conviction, immigration officials accepted his promise to self-deport and waved him on his way. That trust appeared misplaced as in 2013 he was arrested for a driving offense in Sonoma county. An immigration detainer lodged with the jail had no effect.
Villavivar was given bail in April 2025 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros in his current federal case.
“The fact that Mr Villavivar knew he could not legally posses a gun, did so anyway, plus his past associations with the Sureno gang, are not to be taken lightly,” said Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg this morning.
“At the same time, I do take into account the struggles he had growing up…and his extended period of productive employment and the completion of the court’s restorative justice program,” he added, before imposing a non-custodial sentence.
Villavivar earlier pleaded guilty to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Villavivar benefited from letters of support from a galaxy of Sonoma landscaping companies happy to undercut American workers with illegal alien labor. The boss of one firm was present in court and accompanied his employee out, both untroubled by immigration enforcement.
Mexican national Israel Rios Milanez, 51, pleaded guilty today to illegally reentering the United States. He had been deported in 2018, after a San Mateo conviction for contacting a minor for sexual purposes, but promptly returned and now makes his home in Salinas.
Rios Milanez was granted bail by U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson when first brought to court last month.
The court was told today by assistant U.S. attorney William Skewes-Cox that his office viewed this as a ‘fast track’ case – a fast track to what, precisely, was not specified – and asked for sentencing to take place as soon as possible.
Judge Seeborg set sentencing for July 14.
The refusal of state authorities to cooperate with immigration enforcement is a well-known feature of proceedings at San Francisco’s Hall of Justice – and, remarkably, the federal courthouse offers little more friction, even for defendants facing charges of illegal reentry after deportation.
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