ICE removes Mexican national wanted for kidnapping
NEW ORLEANS – A Mexican man illegally present in the United States, who is wanted in his home country on a felony kidnapping charge, was removed from the United States Thursday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Mario Arredondo-Ramos, 33, was ordered removed by an immigration judge March 4 after he was arrested by New Orleans ERO officers in May 2014. Mexican authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Arredondo-Ramos in July 2013 charging him with aggravated kidnapping.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will continue to focus its removal resources on violent criminals and other high-priority aliens who pose the greatest threat to our communities," said ERO New Orleans Field Office Director David Rivera.
ERO officers removed Arredondo-Ramos Thursday via an ICE Air charter flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to Brownsville, Texas, where he was then transferred into Mexican law enforcement custody at the border.
Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 720 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.
In fiscal year 2014, ERO removed 315,943 individuals from the United States. In addition to convicted criminals, the agency's enforcement priorities include those apprehended while attempting to unlawfully enter the United States, illegal re-entrants — individuals who returned to the United States after being previously removed by ICE — and immigration fugitives. In fiscal year 2014, 98 percent of ICE removals met these priorities.
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