ERO Baltimore arrests Guatemalan national convicted of rape in Maryland

WALDORF, Md. — Enforcement and Removal Operations Baltimore apprehended an unlawfully present 19-year-old Guatemalan national convicted of raping a Maryland resident. Deportation officers with ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Henry Argueta-Tobar Aug. 14 in Waldorf.

“After unlawfully entering our country, Henry Argueta-Tobar made his way to Maryland and victimized one of our residents,” said ERO Baltimore acting Deputy Field Office Director Vernon Liggins. “We could not allow him to continue to threaten our communities. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by relentlessly pursuing unlawfully present sexual predators and egregious criminal noncitizens.”

U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Argueta May 21, 2019, after he unlawfully entered the United States near El Paso, Texas, as an accompanied minor. Officials served Argueta with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.

On May 23, 2019, U.S. Border Patrol transferred custody of Argueta to ERO El Paso. Later that day, ERO El Paso released Argueta on an order of recognizance.

The Charles County Sheriff's Office arrested Argueta Dec. 22, 2023, and charged him with rape in the second degree.

ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Argueta Dec. 27, 2023, with the Charles County Detention Center in La Plata.

The Charles County Detention Center refused to honor ERO Baltimore’s immigration detainer and released Argueta from custody on an unknown date.

On Feb. 12, a Department of Justice immigration judge in Baltimore ordered Argueta removed to Guatemala.

On July 3, the Circuit Court for Charles County convicted Argueta of rape in the second degree and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment followed by five years of supervised probation. The court then suspended all but 190 days of the prison sentence.

Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Argueta in Waldorf. Argueta 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 the Department of Homeland Security 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.