Chávez Jr. misses court for case unrelated to ICE arrest, lawyer says status 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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
28 minutes ago
What would it take for Elon Musk to create a new political party in America?
On the heels of the Fourth of July -- and amid his feud with President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans over the president's tax policy bill -- tech billionaire Elon Musk announced plans for a brand new political party, dubbed "America Party," to represent what he called "the 80% in the middle." Musk, who recently left his temporary government post as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, told his X followers that his new party will "give you back your freedom." In a series of posts over the weekend, Musk said his party would use "extremely concentrated force at a precise location on the battlefield" to target "2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," which he believes "would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws." So what would it take for Musk to launch his third-party effort? Here's an overview. Getting on the ballot To start, Musk would have to get his party on the ballots in the states where he wants to compete -- each with its own process for qualifying. In many states -- including Kentucky, where the race to fill retiring Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell's open seat in 2026 is heating up -- a party-designated candidate must win a nomination from a state-recognized political party that has received a certain percentage of votes in the previous presidential election -- or else a candidate has to run as an independent or a write-in candidate. In other states, the America Party's name itself could present a problem -- like in New York, where state law prohibits political parties from having the word "American," or any part of it, as part of their party names, according to Election Law Blog. Bankrolling these state-level efforts would take significant resources. Experts would be needed to navigate each state's election laws and political systems in order to identify and nominate promising candidates, and canvassers would have to gather thousands to tens of thousands of signatures for each candidate to get them on the ballot. Traditionally, candidates and their parties spearhead these operations, working together to strategize signature-gathering, voter registration, and campaign fundraising and spending. But Musk's America Party is unlikely to become a certified political party anytime soon, because the Federal Election Commission, which reviews political organizations' qualification as political parties, has not been in quorum to do so since a commissioner resigned in April, leaving the agency with just three commissioners. FEC commissioners can only be appointed by President Trump himself. It's not yet clear if Musk has filed any paperwork for his America Party, and an FEC spokesperson declined to comment on whether the agency has received any paperwork from Musk's team. Going the PAC route Faced with the long odds of gaining party certification, some election experts say that Musk, at least for the time being, could focus on House and Senate candidates through a super PAC. That's because ballot access for congressional races is governed by the states -- not the federal government -- so the America Party could still put its designated candidates on the ballot without the FEC's certification, as long as they pass state qualifications. And because super PACs are unconstrained by fundraising or spending limits, an America Party super PAC could be funded by unlimited donations from supporters including Musk himself, and could independently spend an unlimited amount of money in support of its candidates. The only catch is that super PACs are unable to work directly with campaigns the way FEC-certified political parties can -- but election lawyer Matt Sanderson of Caplin and Drysdale told ABC News that the efficiency of a super PAC can actually outweigh the advantages of a political party. "Form a super PAC, just call yourselves a political party -- that's not against the rules. The FEC blessing is not needed," said Sanderson, who was legal counsel for the No Labels movement during the 2024 election. "I actually don't think it makes a lick of sense in this day and age to try to form yourself as a national party committee." "They can call themselves whatever they want," Sanderson said, explaining that the FEC doesn't prohibit a super PAC from calling itself a political party as long as it doesn't coordinate directly with campaigns. "Just skip right past this very cumbersome and not-all-that-beneficial process, hold themselves out as a political party, and move forward." Joining forces Additionally, Musk could enlist the help of existing third parties, like the Libertarian Party or the Green Party. However, third parties historically have had little success in gaining office in the United States. During the 2024 election, the centrist group No Labels led a third-party presidential movement but ended its efforts months before the Republican and Democratic national conventions, after failing to find their candidate before their self-imposed deadline. Longstanding Libertarian Party nominee Chase Oliver ran in the 2024 presidential race but received less than 0.5% of the total vote. Still, a possible collaboration could be in the works: Musk has been in touch with one-time Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, who in recent days has spearheaded a third party centrist effort of his own, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News. Caleb Burns, an election lawyer at Wiley Rein, acknowledged the potential significance of obtaining an official party status through the FEC instead of bypassing that step with a super PAC -- stressing the role of a political party as a "brand for politicians." "The success of any new political party will turn on whether there are sufficient candidates -- and, by extension, members of the public -- interested in aligning with that new brand," Burns said. "If the answer is yes, then it makes sense to do everything possible to enhance and promote that brand -- which means proceeding with the organizational and legal burdens necessary to create and formalize a new political party." "The critical predicate, however, is the political question of whether or not there is sufficient interest in a new brand of politician," Burns said. "For that, it seems we will have to wait and see what Mr. Musk concludes."
Washington Post
36 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Iranian mother released from ICE detention after Republican House Majority Leader intervenes
NEW ORLEANS — An Iranian mother detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers has been released this week following advocacy from Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. Mandonna 'Donna' Kashanian, 64, was detained by ICE officers last month as she gardened in the yard of her New Orleans home. She had been living in the United States for 47 years and her husband and daughter are both U.S. citizens.
The Hill
38 minutes ago
- The Hill
Homan: If Democrats ‘don't like what ICE is doing, then change the law‘
President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, called on Democrats to tone down the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rhetoric, saying they should pass legislation to address their concerns, rather than target the law enforcement officers. In an interview on Tuesday on the 'Cats & Cosby Show' with John Catsimatidis & Rita Cosby, Homan expressed concern about the rise in violence against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and suggested that 'nuts on the left' were, at least partially, responsible. 'I've seen this film before, and I said, with this rhetoric, comparing ICE to Nazis and racists and terrorist groups, I said, the nuts on the left, it's going to embolden them to do something stupid, and we've seen it,' Homan said. 'So, I don't think it's over, unless Democrats, you know, shut the hell up and stop attacking ICE.' 'They need to remember ICE is enforcing the laws that they wrote,' Homan continued. 'If they don't like what ICE is doing, then change the law.' The interview comes a day after a man opened fire at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, on Monday. Federal agents returned fire and shot the man. A few days earlier, a police officer was shot outside an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas. 'I said over two months ago, if this rhetoric continues, that someone's going to lose their life,' Homan said in the interview, 'either a protester who is turning criminal or violent or it's going to be an officer.'
