A world-renowned illegal alien chef who once did catering for former President George W. Bush has officially been deported.
Chef Sergio Garcia was scooped up by immigration authorities on March 25 and deported within 24 hours to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.
His deportation hasn’t pleased leftists:
Sergio Garcia, celebrated Chef who came to the US before ICE even existed. Deported after 36 years.
The picture tells you a lot about the decline of the Republican party.https://t.co/GfrPB5nnza pic.twitter.com/lGX5RH4Jr0
— Alex Tabarrok (@ATabarrok) October 7, 2025
The deportation was prompted by a two-decade-old deportation order that was issued after he illegally crossed into the United States in 1989.
“At the time, visa overstays were considered a minor administrative violation in the United States,” according to The Texas Tribune.
Plus, back then, neither the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) existed.
“I didn’t plan to stay for a long time anyways,” Garcia recalled to the paper.
But that quickly changed as he made friends, found work in local restaurants, and got closer to achieving his dream of opening up a cocktail bar and restaurant.
One of his gigs allowed him to prepare shrimp cocktails and marinated chopped fish (ceviche) after hours. He used that opportunity to build a following. Years later, in 1995, he and his wife opened a brick-and-mortar store, El Siete Mares. As time passed and his following grew, Garcia’s business blossomed.
“I thought El Siete Mares was the greatest restaurant in Waco,” retired Baylor University professor Blake Burleson told the Tribune. “When we had guests in town, we’d always take them there.”
After President Bush assumed office in 2000, the restaurant reportedly began catching the eye of the press because of its proximity to the Bush Ranch, where the then-president spent a lot of time.
“Soon, Garcia was catering the White House press corps, offering a sprawling Mexican breakfast buffet at Crawford Middle School as reporters waited to be transported to press conferences at the nearby Bush ranch,” the Tribune notes.
The restaurant eventually shuttered in 2011 because of an “economic downturn,” but Garcia rebounded two years later with both a new restaurant and food truck — the same food truck he was working in when he was scooped up by immigration officials in March.
Waco is going to be worse without Sergio. A supremely talented chef and a kind person. https://t.co/3LjIRSZ3kV
— Olivia Messer (@OliviaMesser) October 8, 2025
Critics are now demanding to know why he never pursued citizenship in all the years that he was here. He alleged to the Tribune that he’s been trying to obtain legal status for decades, but to no avail.
“It was so bad — we spent so much money hiring different lawyers and different lawyers,” he said.
One of the lawyers reportedly “mishandled” his case in some way, which led to a deportation order being filed.
The most recent attorney his family spoke with, Melissa Trujillo, assured them that Garcia’s case was being reviewed by a judge and that a final judgment would be issued in April — a month after he was deported.
Immigration attorney Susan Nelson suggested to the Tribune that Garcia may not have been deported had it not been for the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies — policies that no longer allow immigration authorities to cut some people a break.
“They’re no longer considering whether someone is contributing to the community, making great burritos […] or not committing crimes,” she explained. “The ICE office here in Waco no longer has the authority to disregard old deportation orders. Now, they’re going out and looking for people with those old orders.”
The Trump administration, for its part, remains unapologetic about Garcia’s deportation.
“Sergio Garcia, a 65-year-old twice-deported criminal alien from Mexico, illegally entered the U.S., was afforded full due process under the law, and was ordered deported by an immigration judge at great taxpayer expense,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
“In complete defiance to our nation’s system of laws, he fled from authorities and remained an immigration fugitive for more than 23 years. After law enforcement finally caught up with him earlier this year, he was arrested and deported to Mexico on March 25,” they added.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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