News Releases and Statements

Two Dominican nationals wanted for murder and manslaughter in their home country were removed Tuesday by officers with ICE's ERO Philadelphia. ERO previously removed one of the individuals in 2011.

Officers with ICE ERO assisted the USMS lead fugitive task force and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in yesterday’s arrest of Rodolfo Navarro-Salgado.

Michael Cerdas Molina was convicted of sexual assault against a minor in Costa Rica in 2016 and sentenced to six years imprisonment. However, he absconded to the United States in March 2017, prior to serving his sentence, using a valid nonimmigrant visa that was issued to him in 2010. He failed to depart the United States in accordance with the terms of his admission, which rendered him removable under U.S. immigration law.

The enforcement statistics from January-March 2019 illustrate that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is committed to arresting and removing unlawfully present aliens, with criminal histories, who threaten public safety and endanger immigrant communities.

Aliens arrested during this operation are from the following seven countries: Mexico (58), Guatemala (6), Honduras (6), El Salvador (2), Kenya (1), Ecuador (1) and Vietnam (1).

During this enforcement surge, ICE deportation officers made arrests in the following Texas cities: Rio Grande Valley (9), San Antonio (7), Laredo (20), and Austin/Waco (16). Of those arrested, 46 were men; six were women.

Amilcar Aguilar-Hernandez, 23, from El Salvador; and Douglas Amaya-Arriaga, 18, and Carlos Perez-Rodriguez, 18, both from Honduras, were recaptured June 20. They remain in ICE custody pending their transfer to U.S. Marshals Service custody for federal prosecution for their escape.

Houcine Ghoul departed the U.S. from John F. Kennedy Airport in New York Wednesday evening, escorted by ERO officers. He was turned over to Tunisian authorities Thursday, upon his arrival in his home country.

There is an inherent increase in risk to personnel and bystanders when ICE officers and agents must go out into the community to proactively locate these previously detained criminal aliens. ICE commends our local law enforcement colleagues who work to minimize that risk by cooperating with ICE to apprehend criminal aliens at the time of their release from local custody.

Aliens arrested during this operation are from the following 14 countries:  Benin (1), Cuba (1), Ecuador (3), El Salvador (3), Guatemala (26), Honduras (7), Jordan (1), Mexico (92), Micronesia (1), Moldova (1), Nicaragua (1), Poland (1), Saudi Arabia (1) and South Korea (1).

On Nov. 15, 2000, the Criminal Judicial Branch in Sinaloa, Mexico, issued a warrant against Arturo Lopez-Mendez (a.k.a. “El Mocho”), 45, for the offense of rape. On June 18, 2018, Mexican authorities notified ERO Phoenix that Lopez-Mendez was subject to an outstanding arrest warrant on rape charges.

Yassin Muhiddin Aref, 38, was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment for seven counts relating to material support of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

Patrick Owusu, 42, a citizen of Ghana, will be removed once he has completed his sentence.

John Ford, 38, who had a final order of removal to Canada, was escorted by ERO officers from El Paso to Houston International Airport, where he boarded a commercial flight, which the officers verified departed directly to Ontario, Canada.

Arrests occurred in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Of those arrested, 22 were convicted criminals, 10 had criminal charges pending, 27 had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States, and 2 had been previously removed from the United States.

On Jan. 2, the Attorney General’s Office in Sonora, Mexico, issued a warrant against Rodrigo Castillo Alvarez (a.k.a. Oscar Castillo or Alfonso Castillo Delgado) for the offenses of sexual abuse or rape of a child and child molestation. According to Mexican police records, Alvarez was alleged to be one of two predators who violated a female under the age of 12.

During the effort, which focused on persons ordered removed from the U.S. with criminal convictions or pending charges, ERO deportation officers arrested 31 individuals for violating U.S. immigration laws. Of those arrested, more than 26 were convicted criminals or had criminal charges pending, more than 29 had been issued a final order of removal and failed to depart the United States, or had been previously removed from the United States.

Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce and Joel Ernesto Escobar, both Salvadoran nationals, were previously arrested on May 11, 2018 when they were arrested by Prince George’s County Police Department (PGCPD) for attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, participation in gang activity, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted robbery, and other related charges.

The individuals were arrested for violating U.S. immigration laws in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act. Those targeted for arrest had been issued final orders of removal within the past five years and had criminal histories or pending criminal charges.

Some of the individuals arrested during this operation will face federal criminal prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal. The arrestees who are not being federally prosecuted will be processed administratively for removal from the United States.

According to preliminary arrest statistics, the field office made 33 at-large arrests May 13-16 across its area of operations. Of the 33 arrests, 22 have prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges; 23 were either previously deported or have outstanding removal orders issued by the courts. Nine arrests took place in metro New Orleans, 12 in Alabama, eight in Arkansas and four in Tennessee. 

Yimmi Jose Pereira-Ramos, 24, was flown to El Salvador May 9 on a charter flight coordinated by ICE Air Operations (IAO). Upon arrival, Campos-Rivera was turned over to officials from El Salvador’s Civilian National Police (PNC).

Elda Cuadra-Torres, 29, was removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations Charter flight and transferred into the custody of Salvadoran law enforcement authorities.

According to court documents, Jose Edgardo Diaz-Ramos, 36, is a native and citizen of Honduras. Prior to his previous removal, Diaz-Ramos was convicted of a violent felony in California of willful infliction of corporal injury on a spouse. In 2014, after serving a sentence of six years in prison, Diaz-Ramos was deported at taxpayer expense for a fourth time. Sometime thereafter, Diaz-Ramos illegally reentered the United States again.