ICE arrests 6 during Operation No Safe Haven in New York

NEW YORK – Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York arrested six during a three-day period, from August 27-29th, in the New York City metropolitan area.

During the operation, ERO officers arrested six aliens at-large in the community. The six are known or suspected human rights violators who were issued final orders of removal to be removed from United States.

“The six arrested during this operation used the backdrop of New York City to shadow their illicit pasts in their home countries,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “ICE officers will continue to focus their enforcement efforts on criminal aliens and others, like these known or suspected human rights violators, and will seek to have each one removed to their home country.”

Arrests include:

• A Guatemalan national and former military official who served at the site of military sweeps and massacres during his period of military service;
• A Chinese national who assisted in forced abortion and/or sterilization in China;
• A Chinese national who was an active participant in China’s coercive family planning policy;

The arrestees include nationals from: Albania, China, Guatemala, and Sudan. ERO deportation officers made arrests in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Ossining.

ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. ICE deportation officers carry out targeted enforcement operations every day in locations around the country as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls. These operations involve existing, established Fugitive Operations Teams. All of those arrested are currently detained in ICE custody pending removal from the United States.

ICE is committed to identifying, investigating, prosecuting and removing known or suspected human rights violators who seek a safe haven in the United States. HSI's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center investigates human rights violators who try to evade justice by seeking shelter in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, severe violations of religious freedom, female genital mutilation/cutting and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. These individuals may use fraudulent identities or falsified documents to enter the country and attempt to blend into communities in the United States.

Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to contact ICE by calling the toll-free ICE tip line at 1-866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email HRV.ICE@ice.dhs.gov or complete ICE’s online tip form.

Since 2003, ICE has arrested more than 415 individuals for human rights-related violations of the law under various criminal and/or immigration statutes. During that same period, ICE obtained deportation orders against and physically removed more than 990 known or suspected human rights violators from the United States. Additionally, ICE has facilitated the departure of an additional 152 such individuals from the United States.