ESTA application and a personal problem

[sgtccs74 0]

Hello guys, nice to meet you,

Well, I found out about this forum because I had a problem a couple years back while trying to enter the US. I have been there plenty of times by now (2-3) to NY, Miami and Orlando and also a couple times in transit and I always entered with an ESTA application (Italy) but 2 years ago when I was leaving my country (Venezuela) to Mexico making a transit through Texas a soldier checking my passport rip the cover by mistake (or so he said), after discussing a while with him I proceed to the plane and board it to Texas where, upon arrival, they told me that my ESTA was invalid because my document became invalid once that guy rip it apart. Long story short, they told me that I will be required to leave the US (removed) immediately if I didn't pay 600$ for a provisional visa (15 days), I obviously paid and continued my trip to Mexico. After finishing my works in Mexico I needed to do the same trip back to my country but United refused to let me enter the plane until I get my new passport because I caused them a fine of 24000$ (It's fair, I supposed) so I ended up using another route.

Now I am planning to go to the US on vacations, to Texas to be specific, and I want to make my new ESTA application with my new Italian passport (no tearings on this one) and I was wondering If I am ineligible to enter the US or not, because I'm a bit afraid about the fact that they can give me my ESTA but deny me entrance at the border, so I came here to ask if someone knows what is my current situation, if I am eligible or not to enter and If I am, what will they tell me at the border, if anything. Also, If I am not eligible to enter, how can I change that? what applications can I submit or what are the current steps to be taken while having this problem.

I understand that the fact that they provided me with a provisional visa is positive in my case, because the allowed me to enter at that time and I don't have "remove from the US" written in any of my documents so there should not be a problem this time but I'm afraid nonetheless given that getting thrown out of a country is not a good experience, especially if you already spent a heavy amount of money in making the trip. If someone could help, I would gladly appreciate it. Also, I don't remember what the officers told me that time, which I guess is good considering that I would remember the "you are permanently banned from the US" if they had told me that.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post. My best wishes to all of you.