ICE ERO removes gang-affiliated fugitive residing in Connecticut to El Salvador
ICE deportation officers complete transfer of Guerrero-Romero to authorities in El Salvador April 5.
BOSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed an immigration fugitive and gang-affiliated Salvadoran national to his home country Friday. The individual had been residing in Connecticut prior to his removal and was wanted by El Salvadoran authorities on several charges, including: aggravated robbery, extortion, blackmail and gang-affiliation.
ERO removed Jose Eduardo Guerrero-Romero from the United States via an ICE Air Operations charter flight and transferred him into the custody of Salvadoran law enforcement authorities upon his arrival.
Following his June 2018 arrest by local law enforcement in Stamford, Connecticut, on local charges, ERO officers encountered Guerrero-Romero in July 2018 at a Connecticut Department of Corrections facility in Wethersfield, Connecticut. A name and date of birth search conducted by ERO officers resulted in discovery that Guerrero-Romero was the subject of a foreign arrest warrant issued by Salvadoran authorities in his native country identifying him as a member of the “La Maquina” criminal gang organization of El Salvador.
“This case serves as a clear example of how effective cooperation between local and federal law enforcement efforts can help keep communities safe from the threat of violent criminal aliens seeking to hide in our communities.”, said Todd M. Lyons, acting field office director for ERO Boston. “It is cases like this that bring home the point of how critical ICE’s commitment to enforcing, arresting and removing criminal aliens is to helping keep our communities safe.”
After ERO issued a detainer seeking custody of Guerrero-Romero, the Connecticut Department of Corrections transferred him to ERO custody in November 2018. ERO then initiated removal proceedings based on Guerrero-Romero entering the U.S. without legal authorization. In December 2018, an arrest warrant was issued for Guerrero-Romero on aggravated robbery, extortion, blackmail and gang-affiliation charges in his native El Salvador. A federal immigration judge issued Guerrero-Romero a final order of removal in February 2019, which paved the way for his removal.
Since October 2009, ERO has removed more than 1,700 foreign fugitives from the United States who were sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. In Fiscal Year 2018, ICE removed or returned 258,085 aliens. Enforcement and removal operations arrested 158,581 aliens, 90 percent of whom had criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, or previously issued final orders. The overall arrest figure represents an 11 percent increase over fiscal year 2017.
ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.
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