ERO Salt Lake City removes Chilean fugitive wanted for negligent bodily injury
SALT LAKE CITY — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Salt Lake City removed an unlawfully present foreign fugitive Feb. 7 wanted by law enforcement authorities in his home country of Chile for running over a woman in a crosswalk.
Jorge Henry Clarke Figueroa, 45, departed Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City and arrived at the Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago, Chile. Upon arrival, Clarke was handed over to the Policia de Investigaciones de Chile.
“This is the second international fugitive we’ve arrested in the state and deported in less than a month,” said ERO Salt Lake City Field Office Director Michael Bernacke. “Don’t come to Utah. You will be arrested.”
Clarke legally entered the United States through a port of entry in Miami, Florida, Dec. 20, 2020, and overstayed his visa. Records checks indicated Clarke was living in Utah; officers located and effected his arrest during a fugitive operation Jan. 16 and issued an order of removal under the visa waiver program.
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’s mission to preserve public safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EROSaltLakeCity.
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