Secure borders likely would have stopped the
shooting deaths of two California sheriff's deputies on Friday because the suspect would not have been allowed into the country, Maricopa County, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio told Fox News Channel.
Sacramento County sheriff's deputies Danny Oliver and Michael David Davis Jr. died in a shootout with Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte. Bracamonte, 34, was deported to his native Mexico in 1997 after a drug conviction, and was sent back across the border again in 2001 after another arrest.
Arpaio told
Fox News Channel's "Your World with Neil Cavuto" that the suspect was released from jail at least one other time.
"That's just what we know of," Arpaio said. "Where's this guy been in the past years? I hope they try to track it down, and why is he back in the country, and why did he do this vicious attack on our deputy sheriffs?"
Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones told The Sacramento Bee on Sunday that Bracamonte may have lived under multiple identities and may have had run-ins with the law under another name. He initially told authorities his name was Marcelo Marquez when he was arrested.
"We're not convinced we have a full picture of his identity," Jones told the newspaper. "Immigration has come up with one identity. We are not entirely convinced that is his only identity."
Mauro Marquez, his father-in-law, told the Los Angeles Times that he always knew him as Luis Monroy, and said his son-in-law worked as a house painter. He said the couple moved to Utah a couple of years after marrying about 14 years ago in Arizona.
The Associated Press reported that Bracamonte avoided jobs that would have exposed his true identity.
A hearing is to be held Tuesday to decide whether Bracamonte will be tried in the United States or will be deported for a third time.
Arpaio, who has long advocated for tighter border controls, said he wouldn't be surprised if more officers were killed by illegal immigrants returning to the country undetected.
He told Cavuto his office arrested 4,000 illegal immigrants for state crimes in the last eight months and turned them over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said 36 percent of them returned.
"Last month a guy came back 25 times," Arpaio said. "Either the border is really unsecure or they're letting these guys out in the streets of Maricopa County."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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