ERO Washington apprehends Salvadoran national wanted for robbery
WASHINGTON — Deportation officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Washington, D.C. arrested a 28-year-old Salvadoran national wanted in his homeland for robbery on Jan. 25. The officers took custody of the subject at the Culpepper County Jail in Culpepper, Virginia.
The suspect recently completed a 12-month prison sentence for disorderly conduct.
“This suspect has displayed a pattern of breaking the law wherever he has resided,” said ERO Washington, D.C.’s acting Assistant Field Office Director John Killian. “He is currently wanted in El Salvador for robbery, so we cannot allow him to roam freely in the Virginia communities that ERO Washington, D.C. is responsible for protecting.”
The government of El Salvador issued an arrest warrant for the man on the charge of robbery in March 2015. In May 2015, the U.S. Border Patrol arrested him at Rio Grande Valley, Texas, and issued him a Notice and Order of Expedited Removal.
In July 2019, an immigration judge in Arlington, Virginia, ordered him removed from the United States to El Salvador. In August 2019, the suspect filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is currently pending.
The Culpeper County Police Department arrested him in December 2021, and ERO Washington, D.C. promptly lodged an immigration detainer with the jail.
The subject was sentenced to serve 12 months’ incarceration (time served) for disorderly conduct on Jan. 23. On Jan. 25, Culpepper County officials honored the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer and surrendered him to ERO Washington, D.C.
The man will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his appeal.
Regardless of nationality, ICE makes custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with U.S. law and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy, considering the individual merits and factors of each case. ICE officers make associated decisions and apply prosecutorial discretion in a responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement professionals and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland.
ERO is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that protects the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of our communities and the integrity of our immigration laws.
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 United States. 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 United States to more than 150 countries worldwide.
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