ERO Washington, D.C. arrests Guatemalan noncitizen charged with soliciting child, indecent exposure
WASHINGTON — Deportation officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C.’s Mobile Criminal Apprehension Team apprehended a 27-year-old undocumented noncitizen charged with crimes related to soliciting a child and indecent exposure. Authorities arrested the Guatemalan national Jan. 3 at his residence in Falls Church, Virginia.
“This undocumented Guatemalan national posed a significant threat to minors in our Virginia communities,” said ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Liana Castano. “ERO Washington will continue our mission to apprehend and remove any noncitizen who threatens the safety of our public.”
The Guatemalan native entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official.
Fairfax County Police arrested him Dec. 20, 2023, and charged him with computer solicitation of a child between the ages of 7 and 15 years of age and two counts of exposing his genitals.
He will remain in ERO custody pending removal proceedings.
As one of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 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.
ERO conducted 170,590 administrative arrests in FY 2023, representing a 19.5% increase over the previous year. ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with a criminal history; those arrested had an average of 4 charges and convictions per individual, including more than 33,209 charges or convictions for assault, 7,520 for weapons offenses, 1,713 for homicide-related offenses, and 1,615 for kidnapping. Removals also included 3,406 known or suspected gang members, 139 known or suspected terrorists, seven human rights violators and 108 foreign fugitives wanted by their governments for crimes including homicide, rape, terrorism and kidnapping.
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