ERO Salt Lake City removes foreign fugitive wanted for homicide in Mexico
SALT LAKE CITY — Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Salt Lake City removed a foreign fugitive wanted for homicide Dec. 13.
Emeterio Contreras Martinez, 37, a citizen of Mexico, was transported Dec. 13 from the Nye Detention Facility in Pahrump, Nevada, arriving the same day in San Diego, where he was driven to the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Upon arrival at the border, Silva was turned over to local authorities in Mexico.
“A convicted criminal was returned to his home country to face justice for his alleged crimes. With this removal, our community is a little safer thanks to the hard work with the Salt Lake City and San Diego teams,” said ERO Salt Lake City Field Office Director Michael Bernacke.
Contreras lawfully entered the United States Dec. 6, 2019, at Hidalgo, Texas, and overstayed his authorized period of admission. Contreras was discovered living in Oregon Dec. 19, 2022, when the Oregon District Court in Malheur County, Oregon, issued an order of protection against him.
Contreras was convicted of DUI May 24 by the Oregon District Court and was detained by ERO officers Nov. 8, in Vale, Oregon.
An immigration judge in Las Vegas, Nevada granted Contreras a Voluntary Departure under Safeguards with appeals waived Nov 21.
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 crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form. Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EROSaltLakeCity covering Utah, Nevada, Montana and Idaho.
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