MADISON, WIS. – Chadwick M. Elgersma, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Alejandra Sanchez-Cuaquehua, 32, a Mexican citizen who was residing in Barron County, Wisconsin, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging her with illegally reentering the United States after having been previously removed.
According to the complaint, on April 2, 2026, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received a report that a woman living and working in Richland, Wisconsin, Sanchez-Cuaquehua, was a suspect in a July 2025 homicide in Mexico. FBI personnel in Mexico coordinated with Mexican authorities to confirm that Sanchez-Cuaquehua was a wanted fugitive. According to the complaint, authorities also confirmed that she had previously been removed from the United States and did not have permission to return.
Following her arrest today, Sanchez-Cuaquehua made her initial appearance on the illegal reentry charge in federal court in Madison. Following the hearing, she was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to be returned to Mexico to face the murder charges.
The charge against Sanchez-Cuaquehua was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and their law enforcement attaché in Mexico City, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and their law enforcement attaché in Mexico City, Secreteria de Seguridad y Proteccion, Interpol, Fiscalia General Estado de Veracruz, and the Barron County Sheriff’s Office.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Last Update: May 21, 2026 5:36 pm CDT
