PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) — Sixteen previously deported illegal immigrants - including nine in Northwest Florida counties - have been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegal reentry into the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida.

A release from the US Attorney's Office says the cases are part of "Operation Take Back America," which is a nationwide initiative that "marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime."

Here are the 16 indicted:

• Joel Coto-Mendoza, 48, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Pensacola in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2023
• Roberto Gonzales-Coto, 46, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Pensacola in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2004
• Omar Jimenez-Salinas, 29, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Pensacola in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2014
• Cevero Enrique Ordonez, 29, of Guatemala, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Pensacola in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2014
• Elpidio Abelardo Perez-Perez, 33, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Pensacola in February 2025, after previously being deported in 2010, 2012, and 2013
• Oscar Alva-Cabrera, 23, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Gulf Breeze in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2024
• Jose Luis Morales-Huerta, 40, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Santa Rosa County in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2018
• Maximo Solis-Xec, 25, of Guatemala, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Santa Rosa County in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2018
• Jose Victor Aguilar-Zelaya, 40, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Fort Walton Beach in March 2025, after previously being deported in 2010

• Bernardo Chavez-Chavez, 46, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 1997
• Luis Armando Funez-Gomez, 48, of Honduras, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2008
• Candido Hurtado-Solano, 39, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2012
• Juan Hurtado-Solano, 43, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2012
• Juan Gomez Perez, 22, of Mexico, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2022
• Juan Carlos Hernandez Vallejos, 42, of Nicaragua, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located in Tallahassee in May 2025, after previously being deported in 2014 and 2015
• Ofelia Andrea Caal-Chub, 22, of Guatemala, allegedly reentered the United States illegally and was located Madison County in June 2025, after previously being deported in 2021

Over the last month, at least three immigrants were arrested for driving without a license -- one of them being Alva-Cabrera, who was charged with leaving the scene of a crash and deported in 2024.

He was re-arrested last month, less than a year after his return.

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson explained why many return to the same area where they were once deported.

"If you get a life started in Santa Rosa County and get deported and come back in and go to southern California, when you know absolutely no one, you have to start from scratch," he said. "Whereas if you come back here, you have people that know you and probably employ you or give you a place to live, that's why they come back."

In Pensacola, more than six of these arrests have occurred this year. All were found to be driving without a license, including Perez-Perez, who allegedly re-entered the US illegally after previously being deported not once, not twice, but three times more than a decade ago.

Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons says the law is there for a reason.

"It tells me two things -- one is that we live in a great country, people want to come here," he said. "The second thing it tells me is there's a process and it would behoove them to utilize that process to legally enter the country so that ultimately they could become a us citizen."

The penalty for illegally reentering the United States after deportation is a maximum of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The cases are being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the United States Marshal’s Service, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigations, the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office.