ICE removes convicted terrorist supporter and activist to Uzbekistan
DENVER – Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed a foreign national convicted of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
According to the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) designation by the National Security Law Section, Bakhtiyo Bazarovich Jumaev, 55, poses a threat to national security due to terrorism activities.
ICE ERO International Operations Division, ERO Denver Field Office, ICE Air Operations Commercial Air Operations, and Post Warsaw, coordinated Jumaev’s removal to Uzbekistan via commercial flight on Oct. 6.
“This removal is yet another example of the great work ERO is doing in coordination with internal and external stakeholders overseas,” said Jason Knight, acting Field Office Director, ERO Denver. “I am proud of the role that we at ICE play in making our communities safer.”
“This successful removal exemplifies how the Government of Uzbekistan, ERO, [Homeland Security Investigations] and OPLA effectively collaborate, leveraging operational interdependencies to effect ICE’s overall national security and public safety mission,” said Todd McWhorter, ERO Assistant Attaché for Removal, speaking from the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
Jumaev was admitted into the U.S. in April 2000, through a port of entry in New York City. He was encountered by ICE on Feb. 2, 2010, after he violated the terms of his visa. An immigration judge administratively closed Jumaev’s removal proceedings because he was in U.S. Marshal Service's custody for pending federal criminal charges on March 28, 2012.
Jumaev was convicted of two counts of conspiracy and attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization on July 18, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. ERO Denver officers assumed custody of Jumaev following his release from the U.S. Marshal’s Service custody. OPLA filed a motion to re-calendar his removal proceedings and lodged a national security charge of removal as a noncitizen who has engaged in terrorist activity.
An immigration judge ordered Jumaev removed to Uzbekistan on Oct. 8, 2019, and his appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals was dismissed on Jan. 12, 2021. The U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit denied Jumaev’s Petition for Review on June 29, 2022.
Jumaev was transferred into Uzbekistani law enforcement officials’ custody upon his arrival in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Oct. 7, 2022.
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