ERO Houston removes twice-deported gang member wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide, illegal association

HOUSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston, with assistance from ERO El Salvador and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, removed Noe David Alvarez Escamilla, a twice-previously deported gang member from the United States on Feb. 17. Alvarez is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide and illegal association.

Alvarez, a 24-year-old unlawfully present Salvadoran national and documented 18th Street gang member, was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, to the Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador, on a charter flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. Upon arrival, authorities turned him over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police (PNC).

Alvarez first illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location. On Sept. 11, 2019, immigration officials from the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended him near Eagle Pass. The U.S. Border Patrol transferred Alvarez to ICE custody Sept. 13, 2019, and ICE processed him as an expedited removal. On Dec. 2, 2019, ICE officers removed Alvarez from the U.S. to El Salvador.

Alvarez illegally reentered the United States on May 7, 2020, near Eagle Pass. The U.S. Border Patrol immediately apprehended and expelled him to Mexico pursuant to 42 U.S.C., Section 265 (Title 42).

Alvarez illegally entered the United States for the third time on an unknown date and at an unknown location. On Dec. 12, 2022, ERO Houston fugitive operations officers apprehended him as a foreign fugitive wanted in El Salvador in connection with three homicides. ERO Houston reinstated his prior order of removal and removed him from the United States to El Salvador on Feb. 17, 2023.

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 ICE ERO Houston Field Office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas, follow us on Twitter @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 U.S. 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.

ERO, a directorate of ICE, upholds U.S. immigration law at, within, and beyond our borders. ERO operations target public safety threats, such as convicted criminal noncitizens and gang members, who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-enter the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges. ERO deportation officers assigned to Interpol also assist in targeting foreign fugitives for crimes committed abroad at-large in the U.S. ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identification and arrest, detention, bond management, supervised release, transportation, and removal. Additionally, ERO repatriates noncitizens ordered removed from the U.S. to more than 150 countries worldwide.