ICE removes 2 sexual predators living illegally in Pacific Northwest
Criminal aliens have convictions of sexual abuse, aggravated sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct
PORTLAND - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers removed two illegal aliens to Mexico on Tuesday, who combined have previous convictions including sexual abuse, aggravated sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct in both Washington and Oregon.
Arturo Granados-Aranda, 31, was convicted April 12, 2007, by the Marion County Circuit Court, Oregon, of sexual abuse and sentenced to five years’ probation. Granados-Aranda came to the attention of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers as a result of his 2007 conviction.
In September 2016, an immigration judge granted Granados-Aranda voluntary departure; he has been in various immigration proceedings since. On Jan. 5, a federal court lifted Granados-Aranda’s stay of removal and he was taken into ICE ERO custody.
The other alien removed, now 23, was convicted as a minor in 2015 of aggravated sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct (incest) and ordered removed by an immigration judge on Jan. 6.
“It is extremely important that we remove dangerous sexual predators, such as these, from our neighborhoods,” said ICE’s ERO Seattle Field Office Director Nathalie Asher. “Thanks to the hard work of all officers involved, both offenders are no longer free to roam the streets they previously victimized.”
Both men were removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations charter flight and transferred to the custody of Mexican authorities.
ICE is charged with enforcing federal immigration laws enacted by Congress. ICE officers are sworn law enforcement officers who carry out the arrest, detention, and removal of aliens found to be in the United States unlawfully.
Aliens processed for removal may receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.
Updated: