ERO Buffalo uses the Safe Third Country Agreement to remove Iranian national, national security priority

BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Buffalo removed an unlawfully present Iranian national with ties to terrorism, Dec. 21.

The Iranian national is also a permanent resident of Canada and a national security priority who is wanted by Canadian authorities on assault charges.

The fugitive attempted to enter the United States on Oct. 10 by presenting himself to U.S. immigration authorities at the Rainbow Bridge Pedestrian Walkway in Niagara Falls. Customs and Border Protection officers refused him entry into the United States and returned him to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) the same day. Two days later, on Oct. 12, U.S. Border Patrol arrested him as he unlawfully entered the United States from Canada on or around the Whirlpool Bridge Port of Entry in Niagara Falls without being admitted or paroled by a designated immigration official.

On Nov. 8, ERO Buffalo served the unlawfully present man with an expedited removal order. On Dec. 21, ERO Buffalo removed him to Canada based on the Safe Third Country Agreement and turned him over to law enforcement authorities with CBSA.

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 DHS 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations (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.