News Releases and Statements

Today, ICE, working in coordination with DHS and CBP facilitated removal flights, including single adults and family units to Venezuela, Central America, Colombia and Ecuador.

HSI Baton Rouge and local law enforcement agencies announced the start of Operation Sleigh Ride, an HSI-led law enforcement operation targeting organized retail crime at major shopping centers in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area Nov. 22. 

Last week, DHS, through ICE working in coordination with CBP, facilitated dozens of removal flights, including single adults and family units to Venezuela, Central America, Brazil, Colombia, India, and Peru. During each of the past two weeks, we have conducted over thirty repatriation flights transporting thousands of individuals back to their country of origin and have repatriated over 5,000 individuals directly to Mexico.

ERO Washington, D.C. arrested an undocumented noncitizen who was convicted of crimes against a Virginia minor. Deportation officers from ERO Washington D.C.’s Mobile Criminal Apprehension Team apprehended the 26-year-old Guatemalan national in Falls Church, Virginia, Nov. 6.

On Nov. 21, in advance of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, HSI and CBP cautioned the public about the real dangers of purchasing goods that may be counterfeit, restricted or prohibited.

ERO New York City arrested an unlawfully present Salvadoran citizen Nov. 8 who is wanted in El Salvador for terror-related activity. The foreign fugitive is a known 18th Street gang member and an active member of the Colombia Little Cycos Surenos clique.

ERO Boston arrested an undocumented Brazilian sex offender Nov. 14 on Martha’s Vineyard. Deportation officers from ERO Boston’s Fugitive Operations Team South apprehended the 37-year-old noncitizen near his residence in West Tisbury. The Brazilian national is wanted by authorities in his home country for failure to serve a prison sentence for raping a 5-year-old child.

An Israeli national pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to launder money and facilitate the illegal entry, harboring and transportation of noncitizens in the United States for the purpose of their employment following an investigation conducted by HSI Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General for the National Capital Region. Shai Cohen, 39, of Israel entered the guilty plea Nov. 7 at the U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Destiney Rae Montoya, 22, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal aliens for profit on Aug. 16. The offense includes a sentencing enhancement for being a coordinator.

Luis Cristano Rosales-Estacio, 47, was flown via ICE Air from Denver International Airport to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao, Peru, where he was turned over to the proper authorities.

Blanca Estela Maldonado, 54, of Midland, and her brother, Federico Jose Maldonado-Aleman, 59, of Mexico, were sentenced Nov. 17 to 262 months and 324 months in prison, respectively.

Noncitizens who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States will be removed, consistent with U.S. law. In keeping with standard practice, the United States ensures that all noncitizens, including Venezuelan nationals, without a legal basis to remain in the United States, are properly screened for valid protection claims and withholding of removal in accordance with our laws and U.S. international obligations.

ERO New York City arrested a citizen of Turkey convicted of acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 years old in full satisfaction of the following criminal charges: criminal sexual act in the first degree of a victim less than 11 years old; and sexual abuse in the first degree: sexual contact with an individual less than 11 years old. He was convicted on Aug. 9, by the Suffolk County First District Court.

On Nov. 16, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Chicago Field Office Director LaDeon Francis announced the results of a local enforcement operation conducted between Oct. 23 – Nov. 3 during which officers apprehended 44 removable noncitizens determined to be a threat to national security, public safety or border security.

Sammy Adam Joseph, 47, was charged in an eight-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, Nov. 8. That indictment was unsealed and made public Nov. 14 upon his arrest and initial court appearance.

Yasser Saleh Ouwad, a 52-year-old resident of Houston, was sentenced Nov. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 41 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to transport stolen merchandise.

ERO Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the SAFE Task Force, removed two unlawfully present foreign fugitives from the United States to Mexico on Nov. 15.

Individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law. All individuals who are removed have been screened for protection concerns.

The 52-year-old citizen of Jamaica, who has been unlawfully present in the United States for more than two years, was arrested by local police on two counts of rape and one count of assault to rape. He was arraigned in the Falmouth District Court in Falmouth, Massachusetts on Oct. 27.

Julio Garca IV, 22, was sentenced on Nov. 14 to 45 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court commented on how it was important to remember someone died.

Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, 29, of Portugal, was taken into custody in Newark, New Jersey, as he arrived in the United States from abroad.

The four-state Organized Retail Crime Alliance connects federal, state and local law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as financial and retail industry partners, from all four states. The ORCA initiative is part of a larger nationwide strategic partnership for HSI to identify, investigate and prosecute organized retail crime.

Both Campos and Argueta-Chica are members of the Weedams Locos Salvatrucha (WLS) clique of the MS-13 gang, which operated primarily in Adelphi, Maryland.

Consistent with ICE protocols, the appropriate components were notified about the death, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Inspector General, and the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility.

According to the investigation, authorities arrested Jose Arellano-Rodriguez, 26, of Durham, North Carolina, Aug. 2 at a rest stop in New Kent County after he attempted to pay $90,000 for what he believed was a load of more than 50 kilograms of cocaine.