ERO Boston removes convicted Brazilian extortionist charged locally for assault, battery, strangulation

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston removed an unlawfully present Brazilian national who is wanted in Brazil for extortion. Deportation officers from ERO Boston removed 31-year-old Raul Thalison De Oliveira-Silva from the United States to Brazil Feb. 23. ERO Boston arrested De Oliveira-Silva in Brockton Nov. 21, 2023, after local authorities had arrested and charged him with strangulation and assault and battery.

“Convicted foreign fugitives do not have a right to use our immigration system to flee from justice in their own country,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “ERO Boston places unlawfully present egregious offenders at the top of our priority list. Those who hope to evade justice will not find sanctuary in our New England neighborhoods. We will seek out, apprehend and remove them so that they can no longer pose a threat to members of our community.”

De Oliveira-Silva was initially arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol for unlawfully entering the United States and removed to Mexico in November 2018. He unlawfully reentered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without being admitted or inspected by an immigration official.

In September 2019, De Oliveira-Silva was convicted of extortion and sentenced to five years in prison by a criminal court in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Brazilian authorities are currently seeking his custody for that conviction.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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.