ERO Washington, D.C. arrests previously removed Salvadoran national convicted of sex crime against Virginia minor

WASHINGTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Washington, D.C. apprehended a previously removed 26-year-old Salvadoran national convicted of a sex crime against a Virginia minor. Deportation officers from ERO Washington, D.C.’s Special Response Team arrested Geovany Alex Pineda-Echeverria June 28 in Woodbridge, Virginia.

“In addition to repeatedly disregarding American immigration laws, Geovany Alex Pineda-Echeverria also victimized a child in Virginia,” said ERO Washington, D.C. Field Office Director Liana Castano. “Pineda represented a significant threat to Virginia children, and we could not allow that to persist. ERO Washington, D.C. will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing the most egregious noncitizen offenders from our Washington, D.C. and Virginia communities.”

Pineda unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

Virginia’s Fairfax County Police Department arrested Pineda Nov. 3, 2018, and charged him with felony carnal knowledge of a child.

The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center transferred custody of Pineda to ERO Washington, D.C. on Nov. 8, 2018, pursuant to an immigration detainer.

On March 11, 2019, a Department of Justice immigration judge in Arlington, Virginia, ordered Pineda removed from the United States to El Salvador.

ERO Washington, D.C. removed him from the United Sates to El Salvador April 25, 2019.

U.S. Border Patrol arrested Pineda June 22, 2022, after he unlawfully reentered the United States near Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas convicted Pineda Jan. 19, 2023, of illegal reentry after deportation. The court sentenced Pineda to time served and ordered him extradited to Fairfax County, Virginia, due to an active warrant for failure to appear on felony carnal knowledge of a child stemming from his arrest on Nov. 3, 2018.

On Feb. 27, 2023, ERO issued an immigration detainer against Pineda with the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

The Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court convicted Pineda July 7, 2023, of misdemeanor consensual sexual intercourse with a child and sentenced him to three months and 10 days of incarceration.

The Fairfax County Adult Detention Center refused to honor ERO’s immigration detainer and released Pineda from custody on an unknown date without notifying ERO Washington, D.C.

Deportation officers from ERO Washington, D.C.’s Special Response Team arrested Pineda June 28 in Woodbridge, Virginia. He remains in ERO custody.

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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 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 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.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

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.

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.

Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.