New video of Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s ICE arrest emerges

Footage from the arrest of Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. earlier this week showed the 39-year-old getting detained — with both hands behind his back and a chain wrapped around his waist area next to an open car door — by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents just days after his fight with Jake Paul, according to the video published Thursday by Fox 11 Los Angeles.

Chávez Jr., a Mexican citizen and the husband of a United States citizen, is facing “expedited removal” from the U.S. due to an alleged arrest warrant in Mexico for “involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives” and allegedly being an “affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a release Thursday.

Michael Goldstein, Chávez Jr.’s attorney, said Thursday that the arrest occurred while Chávez Jr. was on a scooter outside his Studio City, Calif. home, according to the Associated Press, and his manager, Sean Gibbons, told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that they were “working on a few things.”

“They blocked off his street and took him into custody leaving his family without any knowledge of his whereabouts,” Goldstein told the Times, while also saying that around 25 agents and officials were present for Chávez Jr.’s arrest. “The current allegations are outrageous and appear to be designed as a headline to terrorize the community. Mr. Chavez is not a threat to the community.”

Chávez Jr. applied to get lawful permanent resident status in April 2024 — two months after the B2 tourist visa he originally received in August 2023 expired, according to the DHS.

But there were “multiple fraudulent statements” on the application, according to the DHS, and Chávez Jr.’s wife, Frida Muñoz, has an alleged connection to the Sinaloa Cartel from a previous relationship to the late son of leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

ICE was notified in December that Chávez Jr. was an “egregious public safety threat,” according to the DHS, but the administration of former President Joe Biden determined he wasn’t an “immigration enforcement priority” — and Chávez Jr. was allowed back into the U.S. on Jan. 4.

Due to the fraudulent statements, he was considered “removable” on June 27, according to the DHS.

The Sinaloa Cartel was designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by President Donald Trump’s administration.

Chávez Jr., the son of the famous Mexican boxer, lost to Paul by unanimous decision Saturday in his second bout since 2021.