ICE deports a Guatemalan man wanted for murder

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A man from Guatemala wanted for allegedly committing murder was deported on Friday by officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO).

Oscar Daniel Amador-Moncada, 24, was turned over to Guatemalan authorities July 8 amid tight security.

Amador-Moncada is wanted for allegedly killing a man on May 21, 2010, after getting into an argument at the victim's residence.

Amador-Moncada returned to Guatemala after his conviction on numerous U.S. traffic violations. A U.S. immigration judge awarded him voluntary return in December 2009. On July 3, 2010, a Guatemalan judge issued a warrant for Amado-Moncada for the May 2010 murder. However, Amador-Moncada illegally re-entered the United States on May 3, 2011 by wading across the Rio Grande River near Brownsville, Texas. He was apprehended that same day by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol (CBP) agents. CBP processed him for expedited removal and transferred him to ICE ERO. Amador-Moncada was housed at ICE's Port Isabel Detention Center until his July 8 deportation.

"Amador-Moncada was a fugitive from justice, and is suspected of committing an egregious crime," said Debbie Achim, field office director for ICE ERO in San Antonio. "ICE ERO uses our unique immigration enforcement authorities to help protect our communities from criminal aliens who pose a public safety threat, including suspects fleeing justice from their home countries. Fugitives should think twice because they can't outrun the law."

This international fugitive was removed on a charter flight via the ICE ERO Air Operations (IAO) Unit. Since 2006, the ICE Air Operations Unit, headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., has supported ERO by providing mass air transportation and removal coordination services to ERO Field Offices nationwide. ICE IAO's mission is to promote public safety and national security by ensuring the departure from the United States of all removable aliens through the fair and effective enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.

For two consecutive years, ICE has removed more aliens than were removed in fiscal year 2008. In fiscal year 2010, half of those removed - more than 195,000 aliens - were convicted criminals. Fiscal year 2010 statistics represent increases of more than 23,000 removals overall and 81,000 criminal removals compared to fiscal year 2008. These statistics demonstrate a 71 percent increase in criminal alien removals, and a 23 percent decrease in removing non-criminals, compared with the previous administration.

The deportation was coordinated with the following ICE programs: ICE's Office of International Affairs, the ICE Attaché Office in Guatemala, ICE Flight Operations, and the ICE Office of Chief Counsel in San Antonio.