ERO Boston arrests Nigerian citizen convicted of indecent solicitation of a child in Rhode Island

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston arrested an unlawfully present Nigerian citizen convicted of indecent solicitation of a Rhode Island child. Deportation officers with ERO Boston apprehended the 45-year-old Nigerian sex offender Feb.15 in Rumford, Rhode Island.

The apprehension was one of the arrests ERO Boston made as part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) recent national enforcement effort focused on apprehending unlawfully present sex offenders. ERO officers apprehended 275 unlawfully present foreign sex offenders nationwide during the law enforcement effort that took place between Feb. 5 and Feb. 16.

“Rhode Island is safer with this noncitizen sexual offender off of the streets,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “His presence in the community posed a threat to public safety. ERO Boston remains committed to prioritizing the removal of egregious predators from our New England communities.”

The Nigerian citizen entered the United States in New York, New York, under the conditions of a nonimmigrant tourist visa in May 2017. He violated the terms of his visa by remaining in the United States beyond the time authorized.

Rhode Island State Police arrested the Nigerian noncitizen in July 2019 on the charge of indecent solicitation of a child. In May 2022, Rhode Island’s Providence Superior Court convicted the Nigerian national of the offense and sentenced him to five years in prison with six months of home confinement. The court then suspended four and a half years of the sentence.

Under Rhode Island state law, indecent solicitation of a child penalizes the conduct of soliciting a person under age 18, or someone the defendant believes is under age 18, to engage in various conduct related to child sexual abuse material; possession, creation or dissemination of obscene material; prostitution or any form of sexual conduct. Rhode Island law categorizes the offense as both a felony and a sex offense.

After becoming aware of the noncitizen convicted sex offender’s presence in ERO Boston’s area of responsibility, ERO Boston officers located and arrested him without incident. He will be held in ICE custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge with the Justice Department’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.

In fiscal year 2023, ERO made 170,590 administrative arrests, a 19.5% increase over the previous year. ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with a criminal history; those arrested had an average of four charges and convictions per individual, including more than 33,209 charges or convictions for assault, 7,520 for weapons offenses, 1,713 for homicide-related offenses, and 1,615 for kidnapping. Removals also included 3,406 known or suspected gang members, 139 known or suspected terrorists, seven human rights violators, and 108 foreign fugitives wanted by their governments for crimes including homicide, rape, terrorism and kidnapping. Also in fiscal year 2023, ERO conducted 142,580 removals to more than 170 countries worldwide.

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 the 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 crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.