Julio Cesar Chávez Jr. misses court unrelated to ICE arrest, whereabouts unknown
Chávez Jr. was scheduled to appear in court Monday to seek early release from a pretrial diversion program stemming from gun charges in January 2024. But Chávez Jr. did not appear at the Los Angeles Superior Court Northwest Division and his attorney, Michael Goldstein, said he did not know his client's location.
Goldstein said that two days ago he learned Chávez Jr. was in Hidalgo, Texas in the custody of DHS. When asked Monday if Chávez Jr. is still in the United States, Goldstein told USA TODAY Sports: "We have no idea. We have no information. Unfortunately."
Chávez Jr., 39, was arrested July 2 outside of his home in Studio City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, according to DHS. ICE then detained the former world champion boxer and began the process for expedited removal to Mexico, DHS said in its initial statement. USA TODAY Sports reached out to DHS for an update to Chávez Jr.'s status and was directed to its July 3 press release.
The arrest took place just days after Chávez Jr., a former world champion, fought celebrity boxer Jake Paul in Anaheim, California. Chávez Jr., the son of legendary Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chávez Sr., lost a 10-round bout to Paul by unanimous decision. DHS said Chávez Jr. faces an arrest warrant in Mexico for his alleged ties to Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel.
In August 2023, Chávez Jr. entered the country legally with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024. In its press release, DHS stated former President Joe Biden's administration allowed Chávez Jr. to reenter the country in January and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry in California.
The Trump administration has launched a far-reaching crackdown on immigration in an effort to fulfill the president's campaign promise to deport millions of people in the country illegally.
Mexico's top prosecutor on July 6 said U.S. authorities have known since at least 2023 that Chávez Jr. was wanted in Mexico on charges related to his alleged ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, according to an EFE news service report.
Chávez Jr. 'entered the United States with the knowledge of American authorities, with a tourist visa that they accepted,' Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero told EFE. 'They knew perfectly well that there was an arrest warrant.'
Attorneys for Chávez Jr. in Mexico have asked for an "amparo," or an injunction, preventing his arrest in Mexico once he is deported, Manero said. It wasn't immediately clear whether Chávez Jr. would face deportation or formal extradition to Mexican authorities.
Days after his arrest by ICE agents, Chávez Jr. still couldn't be found in the agency's online detainee locator on July 7. It can take days or more than a week for ICE detainees to turn up in the locator as they await processing.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she wants Chávez Jr. to face justice in Mexico, where he has been under investigation since 2019 and where he faces charges related to weapons and drug trafficking.
"The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico," Sheinbaum said during her daily news conference on Friday, July 4.
After Chávez Jr.'s January 2024 arrest in Los Angeles on gun charges, the court granted Chávez pretrial diversion, which allows people charged with a crime to enter rehabilitative programs rather than face prosecution. Goldstein said Chávez Jr. had begun the program five months earlier on his own accord. But with Chavez not in court Monday, assistant supervising judge Neetu S. Badhan-Smith set a new hearing for Aug. 21.
"Please make your hearings," Badhan-Smith said, although she also referred to the active arrest Chávez Jr. faces in Mexico.
Goldstein, when asked what his plan is, replied, 'Come back on the 21st and we deal with it then. We get more information."
Mark Giannotto contributed to this story.
This story has been updated with new information after contacting DHS for an update on Chávez's current status.
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