News Releases and Statements

Sergio Lopez-Martinez, a Spanish national, was removed without incident and turned over to Spanish INTERPOL agents who were waiting for him at the Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain.

Victor Manuel Perez-Monroy, 51, was sentenced August 5 to 70 months in prison. Perez-Monroy was arrested on local charges in September 2007 by the Phoenix Police Department.

During the five-day operation, which concluded Friday, ICE detention and removal officers and Lee and Collier County Sheriff's officers arrested 55 fugitives and seven immigration violators. Fifteen of those arrested had criminal histories that spanned from aggravated assault, battery, DUI, DUI hit and run, resisting officer without violence, burglary, weapons offenses, cocaine possession and larceny.

In the first nine months of fiscal year 2008 (Oct. 2007 through June 2008), ICE returned 7,345 illegal aliens to their home countries who had been living in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. During that same period last fiscal year, ICE removed 5,256. This year's statistics reflect a 39 percent overall increase in the volume of deportations from the three-state area.

Convicted felons, fugitives, and immigration violators living in various cities throughout Florida were among the 5,889 individuals deported by ICE officers during a six-month period. From Jan. 2007 through June 2007, ICE deported 3,942 illegal aliens. This year from Jan. 2008 through June 2008, ICE deported 5,889 illegal aliens.

The fugitive operations team based in Kansas City, Mo., made 33 arrests in Garden City and 15 arrests in Dodge City, Kan. Those arrested are from the following countries: El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Vietnam.

During the five-day operation, which ended June 24, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested illegal aliens in Lexington (25 arrests), Grand Island (12 arrests) Broken Bow (2 arrests), and one arrest in each of the following cities: Cozad, Gibbon, Hastings, Kearney and North Platte.

During the five-day operation, which ended June 24, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested illegal aliens in Chicago, Highland Park, Waukegan, Highwood, and other cities in the metropolitan area. Twenty-five of those arrested were fugitives; 18 were immigration violators encountered by ICE officers during their targeted arrests. Of the 43 apprehended, 20 have previous criminal convictions in addition to their administrative immigration violations.

During the five-day operation, which ended June 24, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested illegal aliens in Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine counties. Sixteen of those arrested were fugitives; 22 were immigration violators encountered by ICE officers during their targeted arrests.

From October 2007 through May 2008, investigations by ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) led to the prosecution of 3,831 illegal aliens for felony re-entry after deportation, compared to 1,808 such prosecutions in all of fiscal year 2007.

The flight, contracted by the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Flight Operations Unit, carried a total of 83 individuals ordered removed from the United States by immigration courts. Those removed had been held at various detention facilities around the country, and were staged at the Batavia, N.Y., Federal Detention Facility shortly before the flight, which departed from Niagara Falls International Airport.

Of the 1,808 individuals arrested in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Texas, 1,069 were immigration fugitives. An immigration fugitive is someone who has ignored a final order of deportation or who has returned to the United States illegally after being removed. More than 70 percent of the aliens taken into custody are immigration fugitives or have criminal histories.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams in northern California was a previously deported Mexican national whose criminal history includes prior convictions for transportation and sale of heroin. Mauro Preciado-Preciado, 31, was arrested by ICE Fugitive Operations officers at his Sacramento residence Tuesday.

Five fugitive operations teams worked on this Texas operation. Those arrested are from the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. The five participating fugitive operations teams are based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams locally was a 30-year-old Mexican national who was convicted in 1997 for robbery and sentenced to four years in state prison. Last year, Cesar Hernandez-Gallardo lost his appeal to remain in the United States and failed to depart after being ordered deported by an immigration judge. ICE officers also arrested a 37-year-old Mexican national at his residence in Escondido, whose criminal record includes a prior conviction for burglary.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams locally was a previously deported Mexican national who was convicted in the mid-1990s of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14. Mariano Ceja-Ochoa, 31, was taken into custody by ICE officers May 9 in Dana Point, Calif. Ceja is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for felony re-entry after deportation, a violation that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Among those taken into custody by ICE was Juan Romualdo Martinez-Baldivia, 40, a citizen of Mexico with multiple convictions including driving under the influence, shoplifting and assault. Martinez-Baldivia had been a fugitive since 2006, when he was ordered to leave the United States by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jose Luis Cuellar-Salazar, also known as Jose Salazar, 33, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to one count of illegally re-entering the United States after being deported. This case was investigated by ICE Detention and Removal Operations.

During the two-week operation, which concluded Friday, ICE deportation officers located and arrested 332 immigration violators. The breakdown of the arrests by county are as follows: (147) in Miami-Dade, (104) in Broward and (81) in Palm Beach.

During the two-day operation, which ended March 30, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested 28 illegal aliens, including four with criminal convictions. There were 23 men and five women. Twenty were from Guatemala, six from Mexico, and two from El Salvador.

Most of those arrested - 15 - are from Guatemala; eight are from Mexico; one is from El Salvador; and one is from Iran. Eighteen of those arrested are men; seven are women.

During the operation, which concluded yesterday, ICE officers located and arrested 345 immigration violators who were at large in five Southland counties - Los Angeles (194), Orange (43), Riverside/San Bernardino (68), and Ventura (40).

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Missouri. ICE's Detroit Fugitive Operations Team made 85 arrests, including 66 fugitives, and 21 aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place throughout Metro Detroit. Those arrested are from the following countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: New York, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri. Of the 52 aliens arrested by ICE's Buffalo Fugitive Operations Team, 21 were fugitives, and 22 were aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place in Binghamton (30 arrests) and Syracuse (22 arrests).

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. In Chicago, four teams comprised of ICE officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force fanned out across the city and surrounding areas and arrested 30 fugitive aliens, including 24 males and six females.