Salvadoran murder suspect removed from United States

MESA, Ariz. - A Salvadoran national wanted for aggravated homicide in his native country was removed from the United States Wednesday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Jose Dolores Sanchez-Rivera, 33, has been charged with aggravated homicide in El Salvador. ICE's Phoenix Fugitive Operations Team arrested Sanchez at his Phoenix residence last May after they received a lead from the Salvadoran Consul in Nogales, Ariz.

"ICE will not allow aliens who commit crimes abroad to use the United States as a safe haven from justice in their home countries," said Katrina S. Kane, field office director of the ICE Detention and Removal Office in Phoenix. "ICE will continue to work with its law enforcement partners locally, nationally and internationally to identify and remove criminal aliens to face justice in their native countries."

Following his illegal entry into the United States in 2005, Sanchez was arrested twice in 2006 on charges related to driving under the influence and driving without a license. After his arrest by ICE, the Juzgado de Instrucción of San Marcos, El Salvador, issued an arrest warrant for Sanchez charging him with the aggravated homicide of Carlos Ernesto Ramirez.

An immigration judge ordered Sanchez removed to El Salvador on Jan. 27, 2010.

Upon arrival, agents with the ICE Office of International Affairs in El Salvador met the deportation flight to complete the transfer of custody to local law enforcement officials.

Since fiscal year 2007, ICE officers assigned to the agency's Detention and Removal Operations program nationwide have arrested more than 215 fleeing foreign criminal fugitives from countries around the world.