CREVE COEUR — One recent night, a white sedan drove through a flashing red light on Olive Boulevard.

The Creve Coeur police officer pulled it over and shined a light in the window. The driver barely spoke English, but he handed over a wallet.

“Do you have a driver’s license?” the officer asked, according to body camera video.

No, said Juan Miguel Rodriguez-Cuatianquiz.

“Are you here illegally?” the officer asked.

Rodriguez-Cuatianquiz answered yes. He had been deported once before.

The officer arrested him and called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rodriguez-Cuatianquiz was eventually indicted in federal court for reentering the country after a prior deportation.

Tapping into traffic stops by local police is just one way federal authorities have ramped up criminal charges

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