ERO Washington, D.C. removes Salvadoran national wanted for aggravated homicide
WASHINGTON — Deportation officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C. removed Josue Salvador Hernandez-Portillo, an undocumented Salvadoran national, from the United States to El Salvador on July 14. Hernandez-Portillo was wanted by authorities in his home country for deprivation of liberty and aggravated homicide.
ERO Washington, D.C.’s Special Response Team arrested him in Richmond, Virginia, on May 18.
“Josue Salvador Hernandez-Portillo is wanted by the authorities in El Salvador for some very serious charges, and now he must go home to face the allegations against him,” said ERO Washington, D.C. Assistant Field Office Director Erik Weiss. “ERO Washington, D.C. will not allow the District of Columbia and Virginia to become safe havens for violent fugitives on the run from justice. We owe our residents better than that.”
Salvadoran authorities were actively seeking Hernandez-Portillo, who is the subject of a public Interpol Red Notice.
Hernandez-Portillo entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without inspection or admission by an immigration official.
In October 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Hernandez-Portillo in Hidalgo, Texas, and transferred him to ICE custody at the Port Isabel Service Processing Center.
In November 2016, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued Hernandez-Portillo a notice to appear. In December 2016, ERO Houston released Hernandez-Portillo on a $12,000 immigration bond.
In July 2017, the government of El Salvador issued an arrest warrant for Hernandez-Portillo
for the offense of aggravated homicide, and in July 2018, it issued an additional arrest warrant for the offense of deprivation of liberties.
In January 2019, Interpol issued a Red Notice for the pending charge of deprivation of liberties.
On April 17, 2023, after failing to appear for his removal hearing, a Department of Justice immigration judge in Arlington, Virginia, ordered Hernandez-Portillo removed in absentia to El Salvador.
On May 18, 2023, ERO Washington arrested Hernandez-Portillo in Richmond, Virginia, and transported him to the ERO Richmond office without incident.
ERO removes 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 (EOIR). ERO reviews each case as appropriate.
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.
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