A Guatemalan man who had been deported twice before re-entering the United States for a third time told a federal judge in McAllen, Texas, this week that Border Patrol agents saved his life when they pulled him from a burning tractor-trailer near Falfurrias in June.
Jacob Lix-Par, 41, appeared Tuesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas for sentencing on a charge of illegal re-entry. According to a report from Valley Central, a Rio Grande Valley digital news outlet, Lix-Par told the court: “I was kidnapped by some people who forced me to get on the trailer. And that trailer started to burn. If it weren’t for the Border Patrol, I would have died.”
Judge Crane sentenced Lix-Par to 10 months in prison.
A long history in the U.S., then repeated crossings
Valley Central reported that Lix-Par had lived in Houston for roughly 20 years before his arrest for driving while intoxicated in September 2025. That arrest led to his deportation less than a month later.
He returned to the United States the following November but was arrested by Border Patrol agents immediately after crossing near Roma, Texas. After serving a short jail sentence for illegal entry, he was deported again to Guatemala.
Lix-Par crossed a third time in June 2026 and evaded capture — only to be among those rescued from the burning trailer near Falfurrias a day later.
The rescue
Border Patrol says the tractor-trailer arrived for inspection at the Falfurrias checkpoint on June 4, 2026. While agents interviewed the driver, a Border Patrol K-9 conducted an open-air search and alerted to the possible presence of concealed people or contraband inside. The driver then fled the checkpoint, triggering a pursuit.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Chris Olivarez said Texas Highway Patrol troopers joined Border Patrol agents in chasing the vehicle on Highway 281. Troopers deployed a tire deflation device, but the driver kept going until the truck finally stopped — by then engulfed in flames.
Video shared by Olivarez shows troopers and agents working to unlock the trailer and free those trapped inside. In all, 39 people, including Lix-Par, were pulled from the locked trailer.
Two men who had been riding in the tractor cab were arrested and charged in the case, USA v. Holguin-Florentino et al., which continues to move through federal court in McAllen. Both remain in federal custody.
