ERO Baltimore apprehends Honduran national convicted of rape in Maryland

MONTGOMERY VILLAGE, Md. — Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore apprehended an unlawfully present 36-year-old Honduran national convicted of raping a Maryland resident. Officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program arrested Madai Gamaliel Amaya Aug. 29 in Montgomery Village. Amaya has been previously removed from the United States.

Amaya’s arrest marks the record 153rd noncitizen sex offender arrested in Maryland this fiscal year.

“The apprehension of Madai Gamaliel Amaya underscores the amazing work that our ERO officers perform every day,” said ERO Executive Associate Director Daniel Bible. “This is a landmark arrest for ERO Baltimore, in that they secured a record 153 noncitizen sex offenders arrested in their area of operations during a single fiscal year, but more importantly, there are 153 victims who need not fear their predators because of ERO officers. This arrest also highlights the amazing enforcement actions performed by ERO officers across our great nation.”

Amaya unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Montgomery County Police arrested Amaya Jan. 8, 2009, and charged him with rape in the second degree.

The Circuit Court for Montgomery County convicted Amaya Aug. 11, 2009, for the offense of rape in the second degree and sentenced him to 10 years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation. The court then suspended two years and six months of the prison sentence.

ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Amaya July 26, 2010, with the Maryland Correctional Institute-Hagerstown in Hagerstown.

On Aug. 16, 2010, ERO Baltimore served Amaya with a final administrative removal order.

The Maryland Correctional Institute-Hagerstown transferred custody of Amaya to ERO Baltimore June 20, 2013.

On July 26, 2013, ERO Baltimore removed Amaya from the United States to Honduras.

U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Amaya July 27, 2016, after he unlawfully reentered the United States near Hidalgo, Texas. Border Patrol officials issued Amaya a notice of intent/decision to reinstate prior removal order.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in McAllen convicted Amaya Jan. 3, 2017, of unlawful entry after removal and sentenced him to 30 months in federal prison.

ERO Dallas took custody of Amaya Sept. 28, 2018, following his incarceration at the Great Plains Correctional Institute near Hinton, Oklahoma.

On Nov. 2, 2018, ERO Dallas removed Amaya from the United States to Honduras.

Amaya unlawfully reentered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program arrested Amaya Aug. 29 in Montgomery Village and issued him a notice of intent/decision to reinstate prior removal order. Amaya remains in ERO custody.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from DHS and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

Members of the public can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the ICE online tip form.

As one of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Learn more about ERO Baltimore’s mission to increase public safety in our Maryland communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBaltimore.