ICE removes alleged Salvadoran human rights violator

WASHINGTON — A former El Salvadoran military officer who is alleged to have committed human rights violations by the United Nations (UN) was removed from the United States by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers.

On Friday, Mar. 23, El Salvadoran national Carlos Napoleón Medina-Garay, 61, was removed by ICE special air charter flight to San Salvador, El Salvador.

A 1993 UN Security Council report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador accuses Medina-Garay of committing human rights violations while serving as a captain in the El Salvadoran military. According to the report, beginning March 3, 1981, Medina-Garay and the soldiers under his command were part of a campaign in northern El Junquillo canton, Morazán Department, El Salvador that executed men, women and children. The commission found that Medina-Garay ordered the executions.

"His continued presence in the country would be an insult to those who have sought U.S. protection from human rights violators." ERO Washington Field Office Director Enrique M. Lucero. "ERO officers are committed to ensuring these types of cases are our top priority."

On Jan.17, 2012, ICE issued a Notice to Appear charging Medina-Garay as inadmissible to the U.S. He was taken into custody by ERO officers and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents at his home in Woodbridge, Va., that same day.

Medina-Garay's various applications for benefits under the Immigration and Nationalization Act were denied. His most recent application was voluntarily withdrawn and he was ordered by an immigration judge the leave the United States.

The investigation was conducted by HSI and he was removed by ERO in Washington, DC. ICE's Office of the Chief Counsel Arlington handled the administrative removal proceedings leading to the immigration judge's decision. The investigation and removal was supported by ICE's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC), the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor Human Rights Law Section and HSI Attaché El Salvador.

ICE routinely uses special air charters to transport aliens who have final orders of removal from an immigration judge. Staffed by ERO officers, these air charters enable the agency to repatriate large groups of deportees in an efficient, expeditious and humane manner.

HRVWCC investigates human rights violators, including those who have participated in war crimes and acts of genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the recruitment and use of child soldiers, who try to evade justice by seeking shelter in the United States. These individuals may assume fraudulent identities to enter the country, seeking to blend into communities inside the United States. Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to call the ICE tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423) or to complete the agency's online tip form. To learn more about the assistance available to victims in these cases, the public should contact ICE's confidential victim-witness toll-free number at 1-866-872-4973.

HSI has more than 200 active investigations and is pursuing over 1,900 leads and removal cases involving suspects from approximately 95 different countries. These cases are predominantly focused on Central and South America, Haiti, the former Yugoslavia and Africa. They represent cases in various stages of investigation, prosecution or removal proceedings.