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ICE ERO San Diego removes unlawfully present Mexican fugitive wanted for murder
SAN DIEGO – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) San Diego field office deportation officers removed from the U.S. a Mexican murder suspect wanted in the Aug. 29, 2007, stabbing death of a woman in Mexico City.
The deportation officers transferred custody of Victor Ernesto Sanchez-Rueda, 51, to Mexican authorities at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Jan. 7.
The subject of a March 2008 Mexican arrest warrant for the crime of homicide, Sanchez-Rueda faces 50 years in prison if convicted.
Sanchez-Rueda is believed to have first illegally entered the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, in April 2002. ERO officers initially encountered Sanchez-Rueda at a detention facility in Vista, California, in 2016, where he was being held following a local arrest. The Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, convicted Sanchez-Rueda in 2017 for assault with great bodily injury.
Following his incarceration, the San Diego Sherriff’s Department failed to notify ERO of Sanchez-Rueda’s release from custody.
In March 2017, ERO San Diego conducted a targeted enforcement action and took Sanchez-Rueda into custody to begin removal proceedings.
In January 2020, an immigration judge in San Diego ordered Sanchez-Rueda removed to Mexico.
During Sanchez-Rueda’s removal proceedings, an immigration judge granted him a bond and a change of venue from San Francisco to San Diego.
Sanchez-Rueda then filed an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
After receiving notification about the Mexican arrest warrant in October 2020, ERO San Diego revoked Sanchez-Rueda’s bond and remanded him back into ICE custody.
On March 19, 2021, the BIA dismissed Sanchez-Rueda’s appeal, paving the way for his removal from the U.S.
“Homicide suspects cannot be allowed to evade justice by entering and remaining in the U.S., and ERO San Diego will continue to exercise its authority to ensure justice is served,” said ERO San Diego Field Office Director Gregory J. Archambeault. “San Diego residents deserve to live in a community free of dangerous fugitives like Sanchez-Rueda. ERO San Diego is fully committed to working with its law enforcement partners and carrying out its sworn duty of arresting and removing dangerous fugitives from our communities.”
ICE focuses its civil immigration enforcement priorities on the apprehension and removal of noncitizens who pose a threat to our national security, public safety, and border security.
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