ERO Boston arrests Jamaican national convicted of sexual assault of a minor in Connecticut

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston arrested an unlawfully present 61-year-old registered sex offender and citizen of Jamaica convicted locally of sexual assault of a minor child. Deportation officers from ERO Boston apprehended the Jamaican national Feb. 14 in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Jamaican national, who had been residing in the United States without legal status for years, was apprehended as part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) immigration enforcement operation that targeted unlawfully present sex offenders. ERO officers apprehended 275 unlawfully present foreign sex offenders nationwide during the law enforcement effort that took place between Feb. 5 and Feb. 16.

“This unlawfully present Jamaican national represented a threat to the children of our New England communities,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “Any unlawfully present sex offender constitutes a significant threat to public safety. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our residents by removing such predators from our New England neighborhoods.”

The Jamaican national was granted temporary admittance to the United States as a nonimmigrant in 1987. He violated the terms of his admission by remaining in the country beyond his visa’s expiration date.

The Hartford Judicial District Court convicted him of sexually assaulting a minor in May 2018 and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. He was released from prison on probation after serving seven years of his sentence. ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against him with the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections in February 2017, but the facility did not honor it and released the Jamaican national into the community.

The Jamaican noncitizen was charged locally with driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs and with attempting to fraudulently obtain a passport under a false identity by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in November 1997.

Deportation officers with ERO Boston arrested him without incident in Hartford Feb. 14. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

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 the Department of Homeland Security 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.

In fiscal year 2023, ERO made 170,590 administrative arrests, a 19.5% increase over the previous year. ERO arrested 73,822 noncitizens with a criminal history; those arrested had an average of four charges and convictions per individual, including more than 33,209 charges or convictions for assault, 7,520 for weapons offenses, 1,713 for homicide-related offenses, and 1,615 for kidnapping. Removals also included 3,406 known or suspected gang members, 139 known or suspected terrorists, seven human rights violators, and 108 foreign fugitives wanted by their governments for crimes including homicide, rape, terrorism and kidnapping. Also in fiscal year 2023, ERO conducted 142,580 removals to more than 170 countries worldwide.

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 the 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.

Members of the public can report crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.