Illegal Migrant Suspected of Arson in L.A. Wildfires Faced ‘Multiple Encounters’ with Law Enforcement

An illegal migrant suspected of arson in the Los Angeles area wildfires has reportedly faced “multiple encounters” with California law enforcement officials over eight years.

In a press release from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, it was revealed that Juan Manuel Sierra, also known as Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, had several run-ins with law enforcement officials between “November 2016 to present.”

The press release noted that Sierra-Leyva had “entered the U.S. unlawfully at an unknown date and location without inspection.”

Sierra-Leyva reportedly faced “a variety of charges and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon” in October 2023, according to the press release.

Breitbart News reported on Fox News’s Bill Melugin’s report that Sierra-Leyva, who had been “subdued by residents” and arrested by law enforcement officials with a blowtorch, was “an illegal alien from Mexico.”

The press release from ICE noted that ICE officers “placed an immigration detainer on Sierra” on January 12, 2025.

An immigration detainer is described as “a request from ICE” asking “a federal, state or local law enforcement agency,” as well as jails and prisons, to inform the “requesting agency as early as possible before they release a removable noncitizen” and to “hold the noncitizen for up to an additional 48 hours,” according to ICE’s website.

In response to the press release from ICE, former California state Sen. Melissa Melendez (R) criticized California Gov. Gavin Newsom (R) and the Democratic Party, stating that Sierra-Leyva had “been protected from the law” because of them.

“Suspected arsonist in the Los Angeles fires, Juan Manuel Sierra, is an illegal alien with a long rap sheet,” Melendez wrote in a post on X. “But he’s been protected from the law, and from deportation by Gavin Newsom and the democrat party.”