ERO Houston removes Guatemalan fugitive wanted for aggravated theft

HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, with assistance from ERO Guatemala and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Jose Estuardo Aguilar, a 30-year-old unlawfully present Guatemalan fugitive, from the United States June 24. Aguilar is wanted in Guatemala for aggravated theft.

Aguilar was flown on a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit from the Alexandria International Airport in Alexandria, Louisiana, to the La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Upon arrival, he was transferred into the custody of Guatemalan authorities.

“This foreign fugitive fled Guatemala and illegally entered the U.S. hoping to evade prosecution for his alleged crimes,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. “Thanks to outstanding teamwork between our ICE officers and their domestic and international partners we were able to quickly identify the active warrant and keep him in custody until we could safely repatriate him to Guatemala to face justice.”

Aguilar illegally entered the United States on Jan. 3, near Eagle Pass, Texas, without admission, inspection or parole by an immigration officer. U.S. Border Patrol apprehended him the same day. On Jan. 4, the Border Patrol transferred Aguilar into ERO Houston custody. On June 4, an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Aguilar removed from the United States. ICE officers carried out that order on June 24 and removed him to Guatemala.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

For more news and information on how the ERO Houston field office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROHouston.

The SAFE Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain, and remove individuals residing in the United States illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation’s AAR, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general and national identification repositories — as well as other regional, national, state and local government agencies. The managing AAR ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program’s standard operating procedures. Once established, the AAR-led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.

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.