ERO San Francisco arrests at-large fugitive

SAN FRANCISCO — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested Syed Mohamed Tousif Mohiuddin, a 39-year-old citizen of India unlawfully present at-large noncitizen March 5.

“This arrest demonstrates how seriously we take our commitment to safeguarding our communities from individuals like Mohiuddin,” said ERO San Francisco Field Office Director Moises Becerra. “Our officers will continue to work night and day to ensure protection and safety from those who intend to do harm.”

Mohiuddin entered the United States at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit, Michigan, on March 9, 2010, and failed to depart under the terms of his visa.

The Fremont Police Department in Fremont arrested Mohiuddin Aug. 19, 2013, for assault with a deadly weapon and vandalism.

Between 2013 and 2021, he was arrested 12 times by multiple local police departments and sheriff’s offices in the state of California, and one police department in Las Vegas, Nevada, for violent misdemeanors that include battery with serious bodily injury, hit and run, stalking, robbery and intent to terrorize.

He will remain in ERO custody pending removal proceedings.

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 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 a critical public safety tool 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. Since 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.

In fiscal year 2023, ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with criminal histories; this group had 290,178 associated charges and convictions with an average of four per individual. These included 33,209 assaults; 4,390 sex and sexual assaults; 7,520 weapons offenses; 1,713 charges or convictions for homicide; and 1,655 kidnapping offenses.

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 ICE’s online tip form.

Learn more about ERO San Francisco City’s mission to preserve public safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROSanFrancisco.