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For more information on EOIR, visit: justice.gov/eoir.
ERO Baltimore arrests Guatemalan national convicted of sex crimes against Maryland minor
CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore arrested an undocumented noncitizen who has been convicted of sex crimes against a Maryland minor. Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team apprehended the 24-year-old Guatemalan national outside his residence in Capitol Heights on Sept. 18.
“This undocumented noncitizen committed sex acts against a minor in his household,” said ERO Baltimore acting Field Office Director Darius Reeves. “Because of his repulsive actions and his disregard for our laws, we have detained this noncitizen and placed him into removal proceedings. ERO Baltimore will not allow our Maryland communities to become safe havens for noncitizen sex offenders.”
The Guatemalan national unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official.
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested the Guatemalan noncitizen in July 2007 near Riviera, Texas, and served him a notice and order of expedited removal.
ERO San Antonio removed him from the United States to Guatemala in August 2007.
The undocumented noncitizen unlawfully reentered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official.
The Prince George's County Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division arrested and charged him with sex abuse of a minor: household member; sex offense third degree; sex offense fourth degree-sex contact; sex abuse of a minor/continuing course of conduct with a child; and assault second degree in February 2021.
On Aug. 18, 2023, the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court in Upper Marlboro convicted the undocumented noncitizen of sex abuse minor: household member, sex offense third degree and sex offense fourth degree-sex contact without consent and sentenced him to 10 years of confinement, with all 10 years suspended, and 99 years of supervised probation. The remaining charges were dismissed.
ERO Baltimore apprehended the Guatemalan noncitizen on Sep. 18 in Capitol Heights and served him a notice of intent/decision to reinstate prior order as a noncitizen previously removed. He will remain in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending removal proceedings.
The apprehension of this Guatemalan national marks ERO Baltimore’s 150th apprehension of a noncitizen sex offender in fiscal year 2023.
ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is a separate entity from DHS and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.
As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.
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