ERO Miami removes 4 Dominican nationals wanted for homicide, armed robbery

MIAMI — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Miami deportation officers removed four undocumented noncitizens wanted by authorities for homicide and other offenses to the Dominican Republic April 2 on an ICE Air Operations charter flight.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Aneudy Mercedes, 37, on Feb. 8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and transported him to the Ramey Border Patrol Station. Mercedes is wanted by law enforcement authorities for homicide. On Feb. 20, ERO Miami transferred Mercedes to the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami. An immigration judge ordered him removed Mar. 7, 2024.

Border Patrol agents also arrested Yohan Alfonso Mercedes-Flores, 23, on Feb. 8 in San Juan and transported him to the Ramey Border Patrol Station. Mercedes-Flores is wanted by law enforcement for attempted murder and armed robbery with a firearm. On Feb. 10, authorities transferred Mercedes-Flores to ERO Miami’s custody; he was detained in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. On Feb. 20, ERO Miami transferred Mercedes-Flores to the Krome Service Processing Center. He was issued a notice and order of expedited removal on Feb. 27.

ERO Miami arrested Keli Joel Aguero, 30, on Feb. 27 in San Juan, and detained him in in Guaynabo. He is wanted by Dominican Republic law enforcement authorities for homicide. On Feb. 8, ERO Miami discovered he was wanted in the Dominican Republic, and on Feb. 27, issued Aguero a notice and order of expedited removal. On March 5, ERO Miami transferred Aguero to the Krome Service Processing Center.

ERO Miami also arrested Frank Clinton Ramirez Mora, 30, on Feb. 27 in San Juan. He is wanted by Dominican Republic law enforcement authorities for homicide. On Feb. 27, ERO Miami issued a notice and order of expedited removal. On March 6, ERO Miami transferred Ramirez to the Krome Service Processing Center.

“ERO Miami plays a key role in keeping our communities safe when we remove fugitives wanted for egregious offenses to their home country,” said ERO Miami Field Office Director Garrett Ripa. “We will continue to collaborate with local, state and international law enforcement agencies to remove dangerous individuals who have no respect for the laws of our country or the laws of their home countries.”

Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.

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.

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.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives should 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 Miami field office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Florida, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROMiami.