ICE removes Guatemalan national wanted for murder
NEWARK, NJ — A 56-year-old Guatemalan fugitive, wanted in his home country for homicide, was removed from the U.S. Thursday by deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
ERO deportation officers turned Arnulfo Silva-Gonzalez over to Guatemalan authorities at La Aurora International Airport upon his arrival in his home country.
On March 15, 1999, the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) arrested Silva near Douglas, Arizona. USBP granted Silva voluntary return to Mexico after he falsely claimed Mexican citizenship. On an unknown date and location, he unlawfully re-entered the U.S. without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by an immigration officer.
On Sept. 20, 2017, ICE officers arrested Silva outside his place of employment in Moorestown, New Jersey.
On Feb. 26, 2018, an immigration judge ordered Silva’s removal from the U.S. He filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, which was subsequently dismissed Aug. 26, 2018.
“This individual’s history of entering the U.S. illegally, misrepresenting his nationality, then unlawfully reentering after being deported, as well as being wanted for homicide in his home country, shows that he is a dangerous individual who warranted removal from the community and the U.S.,” said John Tsoukaris, field office director of ERO Newark.
ICE removed or returned 226,119 aliens in fiscal year 2017. The proportion of FY17 removals resulting from ICE arrests increased by nearly ten percent over the previous fiscal year, and the number of ICE interior removals in FY17 increased by over 15,000 from FY16.
ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.
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