BUREAU of Immigration (BI) operatives have arrested an American national tagged as a registered sex offender in the United States during an operation in Manila Wednesday, August 20, 2025.
BI Fugitive Search Unit chief Rendel Ryan Sy identified the suspect as James Russel Munson, 67, who was apprehended along Roxas Boulevard in Ermita.
According to information from the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime and US authorities, Munson was previously convicted of first-degree violation of a minor and is listed as a child sex offender in his home country.
Munson is now in BI custody and will undergo deportation proceedings. He will also be blacklisted from re-entering the Philippines.
Philippine immigration laws prohibit the entry of foreign nationals convicted of crimes involving moral turpitude, including registered sex offenders.
As part of its broader enforcement efforts, the BI reported deporting 1,422 foreigners in the first half of 2025 for various immigration violations, nearly double the 717 deported in the same period in 2024.
The agency has also been monitoring the entry of registered sex offenders.
In 2024, authorities blocked a total of 137 foreign registered sex offenders from entering the country. In January 2025 alone, seven American sex offenders were denied entry. (JGS/SunStar Philippines)