ERO Boston arrests Peruvian national charged locally with assault, threatening, unlawful restraint

HARTFORD, Conn. — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 36-year-old Peruvian national charged with assault, threatening and unlawful restraint in Connecticut. Deportation officers with ERO Boston’s Hartford field office arrested Irving Gustavo Escate-Huarancca July 16 in Hartford.

“Irving Gustavo Escate-Huarancca has been convicted of aggravated robbery in Peru, and has now been charged with violent crimes against a Connecticut resident,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “He clearly represents a threat to our neighborhoods that we cannot allow to continue. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”

A Peruvian court found Escate guilty of aggravated robbery and sentenced him to 11 years in prison.

The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Escate Dec. 11, 2023, after he unlawfully entered the United States near St. Luis, Arizona. USBP served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released him on an order of recognizance.

The Hartford Police Department arrested Escate March 10, 2024, and charged him with assault in the second degree, threatening in the second degree-physical threat, and unlawful restraint in the second degree. Later that day, ERO lodged an immigration detainer against Escate with the Hartford Police Department.

The Connecticut Department of Corrections ignored the immigration detainer and released Escate from custody March 19 without notifying ERO.

The New Britain, Connecticut, Police Department summonsed Escate July 13, for failure to insure private motor vehicle, improper use-marker/license/registration, operate/parks unregistered motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without a license.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston’s Hartford field office arrested Irving Gustavo Escate-Huarancca July 16 in Hartford.

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.