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July 31, 2024Houston, TX, United StatesEnforcement and Removal

ICE Houston removes foreign fugitive to El Salvador

Francisco Ernesto Salinas-Chavez, a Salvadoran national wanted for ties to an aggravated terrorist organization (18th Street Gang), is taken into custody by Salvadoran law enforcement authorities July 31 at the Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador, after being removed from the U.S. by ICE.

HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston field office, with assistance from ERO El Salvador and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Francisco Ernesto Salinas-Chavez, a 27-year-old unlawfully present Salvadoran fugitive, from the United States July 31. Salinas-Chavez is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated terrorist organizations (18th Street Gang).

Salinas-Chavez was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, on a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations Unit to the Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon arrival, he was turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement authorities.

“The successful removal of this foreign fugitives is a direct result of the outstanding partnerships that ERO Houston has with our domestic and international partners,” said ERO Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez. “Working together, we were able to prevent him from making it into our local communities where he would have presented a threat to public safety and successfully repatriated him to El Salvador to face justice for his alleged crimes.”

On Aug. 7, 2016, Salinas-Chavez illegally entered the United States and was apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the Eagle Pass International Bridge. On Aug. 9, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection transferred Salinas-Chavez into ERO San Antonio custody and he was placed into immigration proceedings. On Oct. 16, 2016, ERO San Antonio released Salinas-Chavez on order of recognizance.

ERO Houston received information on Nov. 4, 2022, showing that Salinas-Chavez was a foreign fugitive wanted for aggravated terrorist organizations in El Salvador. After receiving that information, ERO Houston fugitive operations officers were able to successfully locate and apprehend Salinas-Chavez at a residence in Houston on March 28, 2023.

On March 29, 2024, an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Salinas-Chavez removed from the United States to El Salvador. Salinas-Chavez appealed that decision with the Board of Immigration Appeals on April 8. The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed his appeal on July 17 and he was removed to El Salvador on July 31.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged 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.

For more news and information on how the ICE ERO Houston field office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in southeast Texas follow us on Twitter @EROHouston.

The SAFE Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain and remove individuals residing in the United States illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation’s AAR, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general, and national identification repositories — as well as other regional, national, state and local government agencies. The managing AAR ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program’s standard operating procedures. Once established, the AAR-led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

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