Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. arrested by ICE, facing deportation: Mexican boxer accused of cartel involvement

The Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has been arrested by ICE and is facing deportation on charges of being in the U.S. illegally as a fugitive from justice in Mexico, where officials say he has an active arrest warrant for his involvement in organized crime as an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel. Among the criminal activities Chavez is accused of participating in includes the trafficking of firearms, ammunition and explosives.

According to law enforcement, Chavez, 39, entered the U.S. legally in August 2023 via a B2 tourist visa, which had expired in February 2024, and applied for Lawful Permanent Resident status in April 2024 on the grounds of his marriage to a U.S. citizen. Officials say that Chavez’s spouse had been connected to the Sinaloa Cartel — designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government — through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son of cartel leader Joaquin Guzman.

In December 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had made a referral to Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Chavez was an “egregious public safety threat,” but Chavez was allowed to reenter the country on Jan. 4, 2025 after records indicated the Biden Administration had not made him an immigration enforcement priority. Following multiple fraudulent statements on his application to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, law enforcement determined Chavez to be in the U.S. illegally and removable on June 27.

Among the crimes Chavez has been accused of by U.S. law enforcement include a January 2023 arrest warrant for “organized crime for the purpose of committing crimes of weapons trafficking and manufacturing crimes” and a January 2024 arrest and conviction for “Illegal Possession of Any Assault Weapon and Manufacture or Import Short Barreled Rifle.” Chavez was also arrested and convicted in 2012 on charges of DUI and driving without a license.

“Under President Trump, no one is above the law — including world-famous athletes,” read a statement by assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.”

Chavez Jr., the son of former three-division world champion of boxing Julio Cesar Chavez and older brother of Omar Chavez, held the WBC’s middleweight title from 2011 to 2012 and has an all-time record of 54-7-1. His arrest comes just days after his most recent match, a loss to Jake Paul at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Chavez is a native of Sinaloa, the base of the Sinaloa Cartel that has grown into one of Mexico’s most notorious crime syndicates and been designated as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and Canadian governments. The U.S. government has accused the Sinaloa Cartel of being responsible for the trafficking of drugs including fentanyl through the Southern Border as well as the kidnapping, torture and murder of American citizens.