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February 7, 2023Washington, DC, United StatesEnforcement and Removal

ERO Washington removes Salvadoran national wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide

Deportation officers from ERO Washington removed Gerson Geovanni Soto-Juarez from the U.S. on Feb. 6. Soto-Juarez is a Salvadoran national wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide and illicit association.
Deportation officers from ERO Washington removed Gerson Geovanni Soto-Juarez from the U.S. on Feb. 6. Soto-Juarez is a Salvadoran national wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide and illicit association.

WASHINGTON — Deportation officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington removed Gerson Geovanni Soto-Juarez, 26, a Salvadoran national wanted by Salvadoran authorities for aggravated homicide and illicit associations.

Soto-Juarez departed the United States Feb. 6 via U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Air Operations flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to San Salvador, El Salvador, where officials turned him over to local authorities.

“Gerson Geovanni Soto-Juarez is a dangerous individual capable of violent crimes,” said acting Assistant Field Office Director John Killian of ERO Washington. “He is wanted for committing a heinous murder in his native country, and he attempted to flee to the U.S. to escape justice in El Salvador. ERO Washington simply cannot allow criminals like Soto-Juarez to freely roam the streets of the communities we have sworn to protect — we owe the residents of the Washington metro area better than that.”

Soto-Juarez originally entered the U.S. before March 2010 on an unknown date at an unknown location without admission by an immigration official. In August 2014, U.S. Border Patrol arrested Soto-Juarez in Sarita, Texas, charging inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Authorities transferred him to ERO San Antonio’s custody. He was subsequently released on bond. In May 2015, an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Soto-Juarez removed, in absentia, to El Salvador.

In March 2016, the Government of El Salvador issued an arrest warrant for Soto-Juarez for aggravated homicide and illicit association.

On April 29, 2022, ERO Washington arrested Soto-Juarez during a targeted enforcement action in Midlothian, Virginia. In December, an immigration judge in Arlington, Virginia, ordered Soto-Juarez removed to El Salvador.

Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by 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.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are encouraged to contact ICE by calling the ICE tip line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

ERO, a directorate of ICE, upholds U.S. immigration law at, within, and beyond our borders. ERO operations target public safety threats, such as convicted criminal noncitizens and gang members, who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-enter the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges. ERO deportation officers assigned to Interpol also assist in targeting foreign fugitives for crimes committed abroad at-large in the U.S. ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identification and arrest, detention, bond management, supervised release, transportation, and removal. Additionally, ERO repatriates noncitizens ordered removed from the U.S. to more than 150 countries worldwide.

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