ERO Philadelphia removes Mexican fugitive wanted for homicide
PHILADELPHIA — Officers with the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Philadelphia field office removed an unlawfully present foreign fugitive wanted in Mexico for homicide Jan. 11.
ICE’s Air Operations Unit coordinated a flight for Juan Pablo Gonzalez Ferrer, 48, from the Harrisburg International Airport to Louisiana’s Alexandria International Airport Jan. 10. On Jan. 11, authorities flew him to the Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas. ERO Harlingen transported Gonzalez Ferrer via ground transportation to the Matamoros Port of Entry, where they turned him over to Mexican authorities.
“Fugitives such as Gonzalez Ferrer likely cross our border in order to escape justice in their own countries,” said ERO Philadelphia Field Office Director Cammilla Wamsley. “Our officers work tirelessly every day to ensure that criminals such as Juan Pablo Gonzalez Ferrer are removed from the U.S. and prevented from doing harm to the American public.”
On April 11, 2000, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested Gonzalez Ferrer near Douglas, Arizona, for illegally entering the United States without admission or parole by an immigration official. On the same day, authorities allowed him to voluntarily return to Mexico. In May 2002, authorities in Michoacan, Mexico issued a warrant for his arrest. At some point, Gonzalez Ferrer reentered the United States, and in March 2017, the Centre County Court of Common Pleas convicted him of recklessly endangering another person and harassment, sentencing him to 90 days to 12 months of incarceration and 12 months of probation.
In April 2017, ERO Philadelphia served Gonzalez Ferrer a Notice to Appear, charging inadmissibility pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act as a noncitizen present in the United States without being admitted or paroled by an immigration official. In August 2017, an immigration judge in York granted Gonzalez Ferrer bond in the amount of $7,500. The next day, ERO Philadelphia released him on immigration bond.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Attaché for Removals for Mexico City and ERO San Diego notified ERO Philadelphia in April 2021 of Gonzalez Ferrer’s active warrant in Mexico and provided information that he may be residing in Centre Hall.
On May 13, ERO Philadelphia arrested Gonzalez Ferrer in Oxford. On Dec. 2, an immigration judge in Baltimore ordered Gonzalez Ferrer removed from the United States to Mexico. Gonzalez Ferrer reserved his right to appeal but did not file. On Jan. 4, Gonzalez Ferrer’s removal order became administratively final.
Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the tip line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing the online tip form.
ERO, a directorate of ICE, upholds U.S. immigration law at, within, and beyond our borders. ERO operations target public safety threats, such as convicted criminal noncitizens and gang members, who have violated our nation's immigration laws, including those who illegally re-enter the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges. ERO deportation officers assigned to Interpol also assist in targeting foreign fugitives for crimes committed abroad at-large in the U.S. ERO manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process, including identification and arrest, detention, bond management, supervised release, transportation, and removal. Additionally, ERO repatriates noncitizens ordered removed from the U.S. to more than 150 countries worldwide.
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