ICE Houston removes foreign fugitive wanted for rape, violence against women in El Salvador

HOUSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, with assistance from ERO El Salvador and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Silas Otoniel Zamora-Hernandez, a 49-year-old unlawfully present Salvadoran fugitive from the United States Nov. 22. Zamora-Hernandez is wanted in El Salvador for rape as a continuous criminal act and violent conduct against women.

Zamora-Hernandez 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 authorities.

“This foreign fugitive is accused of continually physically and sexually assaulting his wife – at times in front of their three children,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. “After Salvadoran authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, he cowardly fled to the United States and illegally entered the country to evade prosecution for his alleged crimes. Thanks to the due diligence of our attaché office in El Salvador and our fugitive operations officer’s unrelenting commitment to public safety, we were able to connect him to these alleged crimes and ensure he was repatriated to El Salvador to face justice.”

Zamora-Hernandez illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without inspection, admission, or parole by a U.S. immigration officer. The U.S. Border Patrol encountered Zamora-Hernandez March 16, 2019, near San Ysidro, California, and he was taken into custody. Border Patrol officers transferred Zamora-Hernandez into the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations March 21, 2019. Zamora-Hernandez was released from ICE custody July 8, 2019, after posting an immigration bond.

An immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Zamora-Hernandez removed from the United States Aug. 24, 2021. Zamora-Hernandez appealed that decision with the Board of Immigration Appeals Sept. 23, 2021.

An arrest warrant was issued in El Salvador for Zamora-Hernandez’ arrest Sept. 11, 2023, for rape as a continuous criminal act and violent conduct against women. ERO Houston fugitive operation officers successfully located and arrested Zamora-Hernandez in west Houston June 12, 2024, and he was taken into ICE custody pending disposition of his immigration proceedings. The Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Zamora-Hernandez’ appeal Sept. 6, and he was removed to El Salvador Nov. 22.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 1 (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 U.S. 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations (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 (TDY) assignments along the border.