ERO Boston apprehends Mexican national with 2 drunk driving convictions

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended a Mexican national convicted of twice operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Deportation officers arrested the 31-year-old Mexican noncitizen July 18 in Sterling.

“This Mexican noncitizen was convicted for twice driving under the influence of alcohol, endangering the safety of Massachusetts residents,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We cannot allow such offenders to threaten the lives of the residents that we have sworn to protect. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our New England neighborhoods.”

The Mexican noncitizen unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without inspection or admission by a U.S. immigration official.

On Aug. 19, 2008, an adjudication officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services served the Mexican national with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. The immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States to Mexico Nov. 4, 2008.

The Leominster District Court arraigned the Mexican national April 28, 2023, for operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor. The same court arraigned him Jan. 26, 2024, for another offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor.

The court convicted the Mexican noncitizen May 2, 2024, of operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor and sentenced him to approximately one year of supervised probation.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer March 26 against the Mexican national with the Worcester County Correctional Facility.

Despite the presence of an immigration detainer, the court released him from custody May 2 without notifying ERO Boston.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested the Mexican noncitizen July 18 in Sterling, Massachusetts. He 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 Department of Justice’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 with information regarding noncitizen offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO 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 Boston’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.