ERO Chicago arrests Venezuelan citizen with ties to Tren de Aragua criminal organization
Noncitizen is the subject of a Chicago Police Department investigation for a drive-by shooting in Little Italy neighborhood
CHICAGO — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago arrested Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona, an unlawfully present citizen of Venezuela and member of the Tren de Aragua transnational criminal organization.
On Feb. 24, the Cicero Police Department arrested Rodriguez-Carmona for the offenses of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, no firearms identification card, driving without a license or insurance, and possession of adult use cannabis in a motor vehicle. Rodriguez-Carmona was later released.
On March 11, ERO officers arrested the 29-year-old without incident outside his residence. Rodriguez-Carmona is currently in the Dodge County Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, pending immigration removal proceedings.
“This Venezuelan noncitizen represented a significant threat to the residents of our communities,” said ERO Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Raymond Hernandez. “Not only is he a validated member of a transnational street gang, but he also displayed a willingness to unlawfully discharge a firearm in public. ERO Chicago will continue to prioritize public safety by removing such threats from our streets.”
On July 7, 2022, U.S. Border Patrol encountered Rodriguez-Carmona near Eagle Pass, Texas, and was placed into removal proceedings and released on an order of recognizance. On July 7, 2023, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Rodriguez-Carmona in absentia.
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 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 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 (ICE) 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 a critical public safety tool 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.
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-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the ICE online tip form.
Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our Chicagoland communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EROChicago.
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