ERO Boston arrests Ecuadorian national charged locally with kidnapping, rape, assault

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended a 43-year-old Ecuadorian national charged with kidnapping, rape, domestic violence, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Massachusetts. Deportation officers with ERO Boston arrested Edgar Gustavo Pinos Vasquez July 19 in Plymouth.

“Edgar Gustavo Pinos Vasquez has been accused of some violent and terrible crimes,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “We are always happy when our law enforcement partners cooperate with our officers to prioritize public safety. Too many times, immigration detainers are ignored and egregious noncitizen offenders are released to revictimize the residents of our communities.”

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

The Brockton Police Department arrested Pinos July 18 and charged him with kidnapping, rape, domestic violence, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against Pinos with the Plymouth County Correctional Facility July 19. Later that day, a duty officer from the Plymouth County Correctional Facility contacted ERO Boston to inform ERO that he had posted bail.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston responded to the call and arrested Pinos at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility. They served Pinos with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 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.