ERO Boston arrests Colombian national convicted of premeditated murder in home country

HARTFORD, Conn. — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended an unlawfully present Colombian national wanted for premeditated murder in his native country. Deportation officers from ERO Boston’s Hartford field office arrested the 44-year-old in Hartford.

“This Colombian national lied to immigration officials about his violent past in order to gain entrance into the United States,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We cannot allow convicted murderers to roam freely in our New England neighborhoods. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing the most egregious noncitizen offenders from our communities.”

Colombian officials arrested the Columbian national April 10, 2014, for premeditated homicide.

The Rafeal Uribe Criminal Court in Colombia found him guilty April 14, 2016, and sentenced him to four years and four months in prison.

U.S. Border Patrol arrested the Colombian national Sept. 30, 2022, near San Ysidro, California, after he unlawfully entered the United States without having been inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official. He told U.S. immigration officials that he had never been apprehended by any law enforcement authorities in the United States or his country of citizenship.

The Colombian noncitizen was issued a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and transferred into the custody of ERO Boston Oct. 6, 2022.

ERO Boston released him on interim parole through the Alternatives to Detention program Nov. 10, 2022.

On Nov. 7, 2023, ERO Boston learned that he had previously been convicted of premeditated homicide in Colombia. The Colombian government confirmed the information Feb. 6, 2024, and ERO Boston’s Hartford field office arrested him April 3.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Alternatives to Detention program, which began in 2004, uses technology and case management to ensure noncitizen compliance with release conditions, court hearings and final orders of removal. The program allows ICE to exercise increased supervision over a subset of those on ICE’s docket, using several different monitoring technologies. Alternatives to Detention effectively increases court appearance rates and compliance with release conditions, and helps participants meet their basic needs and understand their immigration obligations.

Those who are released from custody and enrolled in Alternatives to Detention must comply with the terms and conditions of their release, including appearances at all scheduled court hearings and compliance with Alternatives to Detention requirements. Depending on the circumstances of the case, failure to comply may result in an immigration judge issuing a final order in absentia and may render a noncitizen a priority for arrest and removal by ICE. As with any noncitizen in the United States without lawful status, ICE officers make enforcement decisions on a case-by-case basis to focus on the greatest threats to homeland security in a professional and responsible manner informed by their experience as law enforcement officers.

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 ICE 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 removes individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR 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.

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.

Members of the public 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.

Learn more about ERO Boston’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.