News Releases and Statements

ERO officers removed Frank Adonay Gonzalez Valdez, an El Salvadoran national with MS-13 affiliations, June 15 and transferred him to the custody of El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities upon his arrival in his home country. ERO officers removed Andrew Wall, an Irish national and member of the organized crime syndicate “Cock-Wall Gang,” June 19 and transferred him to the custody of local authorities at Ireland’s Dublin Airport.

Lester Cruz-Garcia, 21, was arrested July 6, 2017, by the Yonkers Police Department and charged with criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation – apply pressure, assault in the second degree: intent to cause physical injury with a weapon, and harassment in the second degree: physical contact.

Guillermo Leon-Sandoval, 35, has been charged by Philadelphia police with unlawful restraint/serious bodily injury; simple assault; recklessly endangering another person; and false imprisonment.

Of those arrested in Los Angeles and surrounding areas from Sunday through Tuesday, almost 90 percent had criminal convictions. In 53 of the cases, ICE had filed detainers with local law enforcement officials notifying them of the agency’s intent to assume custody of these aliens once they were no longer subject to local detention.

The individuals arrested throughout New Jersey were nationals of Anguilla (1), Bangladesh (1), Cameroon (1), Colombia (4), Cuba (3), Dominican Republic (14), Ecuador (4), Egypt (1), El Salvador (10), Ghana (1), Guatemala (3), Guinea (1), Guyana (2), Haiti (3), Honduras (4), Jamaica (3), Korea (2), Macedonia (2), Mexico (12), Nicaragua (1), Pakistan (2), Philippines (4), Peru (4), Poland (1), Spain (1), St. Lucia (1), Trinidad (3), and Venezuela (2).

ICE's ERO arrested a previously deported Mexican national and convicted child sex offender Thursday in Greensboro, North Carolina. Alejandro Cortez-Lezo, an unlawfully present Mexican national, was arrested outside his Greensboro residence Thursday morning by a Greensboro-area ICE Fugitive Operations Team.

Within the three months, from January to mid-April this year, ICE prepared more than 440 detainers against aliens booked by NYPD or NYDOC.

Juan Saravia-Salamanca, an unlawfully present Salvadoran national, was located and arrested by an ICE ERO Fugitive Operations Team outside his Raleigh, N.C., residence Dec. 12, 2017, after the government of El Salvador informed ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) National Gang Unit Nov. 21, 2017, that it had issued a warrant for Mr. Saravia-Salamanca’s arrest.

Deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed Emmanuel Olugbenga Omopariola, 61, to Nigeria May 24.  He had been in ICE custody in the Dallas area since his arrest on April 18, 2018, when he surrendered himself at the ERO Dallas Field Office.

Of the 156 arrested, 74 had criminal convictions.  One hundred forty-seven men and nine women were arrested; they range in age from 19 to 64 years old.

A total of 49 foreign nationals were arrested over the last seven days in the Philadelphia Metropolitan region during a targeted enforcement operation conducted by ICE aimed at criminal aliens, immigration fugitives, re-entrants, and other immigration violators, which ended Sunday.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Law Enforcement Support Center Operations Unit Mentoring Team recently received the Excellence in Government Award from the Vermont Federal Executive Association. During the Annual Excellence in Government Awards Ceremony, the Center’s team of 36 subject matter experts were recognized for their dedication to the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations mission to identify and remove aliens who pose a threat to public safety.

Orvin Omar Reyes-Martinez, 31, was most recently removed to Honduras on Dec. 16, 2016, and subsequently illegally re-entered the U.S. sometime thereafter.

During this operation, ERO deportation officers made arrests in the following states: Iowa (25), Nebraska (25), Minnesota (15), South Dakota (10) and North Dakota (3).  Of the 78 arrested, 62 had criminal convictions.  Seventy-two men and six women were arrested; they range in age from 20 to 64 years old.

ERO deportation officers escorted Giovanni Zannoni, 35, who was removed from the United States via a commercial flight. Zannoni was transferred into the custody of Italian law enforcement authorities upon arrival in Milan.

Wenliang Sun, 26, a citizen and national of China, was arrested by HSI Feb. 7, 2018, after his nonimmigrant status was terminated. He had been enrolled as a nonimmigrant F-1 international student in an academic and cultural program at UCF that prepares international students for success at an American university.

Jose Salazar-Aguilar, 33, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah W. Hays to illegally re-entering the United States after having originally been deported following his conviction for an aggravated felony.

The arrestees include nationals from Brazil, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, and Ukraine.

Cesar Isaac Erazo Euceda, 29, is a citizen and national of Honduras, where he is the leader of a local gang known as “Flaco’s Gang.”

Benjamin Aguilar-Ramirez, 35, who resided in Waterloo, Iowa, pleaded guilty to the charges Jan. 11. 

Determining citizenship and obtaining travel documents for detained individuals is often a cumbersome process which slows the deportation of foreign nationals held in ICE/ERO custody.  The eTD system streamlines the process with participating countries by electronically providing biographic and biometric information used to determine citizenship and/or nationality for individuals.  The system also allows consular officials to review and edit electronic travel documents, which can be signed using a signature pad.  Documents can be printed locally by ICE/ERO personnel at detention facilities or field offices. 

Ronald Greenland, 55, initially entered the United States lawfully in 1972, but lost that status due to multiple criminal convictions in Connecticut, Florida, and New York. On February 23, 2007, an immigration judge ordered Greenland deported to Jamaica. On February 26, 2009, ICE removed Greenland to Jamaica. Greenland unlawfully reentered the U.S. at an unknown place, on an unknown date, following his deportation.

Those arrested represented 36 countries throughout the world, including: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Anguilla, Bahamas, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Chile, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Israel, Jamaica, Kuwait, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and United Kingdom.

Aliens arrested during this operation are from the following 10 countries:  Mexico (59), Guatemala (12), Honduras (8), Colombia (3), Nigeria (2), El Salvador (1), Laos (1), Nicaragua (1), Pakistan (1) and Vietnam (1).