ERO New York City arrests Honduran national convicted of sex crimes against minor
NEW YORK - On Sept. 19, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York City announced the arrest of an unlawfully present child predator convicted of acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 in full satisfaction of first-degree sexual abuse: contact with victim less than 13 years old, and defendant 21 or older.
ERO Long Island Fugitive Operations apprehended the 23-year-old Honduran national without incident outside his residence in Copiague. He will remain in custody pending removal to Honduras.
“Unlawfully present noncitizens who violate innocent children will be located, arrested and removed from the United States,” said ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo. “We remain committed to eliminating the threats posed by these criminals to our most vulnerable residents. I am proud of our officers for safely apprehending this child predator ensuring he can no longer harm children in our communities.”
The Honduran national unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Houston, Texas, encountered him May 1, 2021, and served him with a notice to appear charging him as inadmissible to the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act and transferred him to ERO custody. On May 19, 2021, ERO released the noncitizen on his own recognizance. An immigration judge ordered him removed from the United States to Honduras in absentia on Feb.13, 2023.
Noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice and is separate from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.
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.
Members of the public can report crime and suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423 or completing the online tip form.
Learn more about ERO New York City’s mission to preserve public safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ERONewYork.
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