ERO New York City arrests unlawfully present Salvadoran citizen convicted of rape

NEW YORK — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City arrested an unlawfully present citizen and national of El Salvador May 17 who was convicted by Suffolk County Court for the crime of rape in the second degree: person 18 years old or more has intercourse with a person less than 15 years old.

ERO New York City’s Long Island officers arrested the 28-year-old registered sex offender outside the Suffolk County Correctional Center in Yaphank, New York, pursuant to a warrant. He will remain in ICE custody without bond, pending removal proceedings.

“This arrest serves as a reminder that ERO New York City will not tolerate predators who commit acts of sexual violence against our most vulnerable community members,” said Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo. “Noncitizens who prey on innocent children will be apprehended and removed from the United States.”

The Salvadoran citizen admitted that he unlawfully entered the United States April 10, 2022, at a place not designated as a port of entry by the Attorney General of the United States or the Secretary of Homeland Security, thus he was not inspected, admitted or paroled into the United States by an immigration official.

In January 2023, Riverhead Town police arrested the noncitizen for the rape. Four days later, ERO New York City lodged an immigration detainer against his release. The Suffolk County Court convicted him of the charges Aug. 3, 2023, and sentenced him to 364 days of imprisonment on Sept. 21 of that year.

Upon his release, ERO arrested the noncitizen and charged him pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act for being an alien present without being admitted to the United States.

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 ICE to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (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 critical public safety tools 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.

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.

Members of the public can report crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ERO New York City’s mission to preserve public safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ERONewYork.