ICE removes Salvadoran gang member wanted for murder
ERO officers escort Jose David Alvarenga-Ramos, who is wanted for aggravated murder in El Salvador, to an ICE Air charter plane for removal from the U.S.
NEW ORLEANS – A Salvadoran MS-13 gang member illegally present in the United States, who is wanted in his home country on an aggravated murder charge, was removed from the United States Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Jose David Alvarenga-Ramos, 31, was previously removed from the United States once before in August 2007. Salvadoran authorities charged Alvarenga with aggravated murder, membership in an illicit group, and incitement in January 2015. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States at an unknown time and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol March 31 near Carrizo Springs, Texas.
ERO officers removed Alvarenga Friday via an ICE Air charter flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to San Salvador, El Salvador, where he was then transferred into Salvadoran law enforcement custody.
"ICE 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.
This is the latest removal to El Salvador falling under ERO’s Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Initiative. The SAFE Initiative is geared toward the identification of foreign fugitives who are wanted abroad and removable under U.S. immigration law.
In just three years, through the SAFE Initiative, ERO has removed more than 550 criminal fugitives to El Salvador. Those removed as part of the SAFE Initiative have been deemed ineligible to remain in the United States and were all wanted by the Policia Nacional Civil (PNC), El Salvador’s national police.
SAFE aligns with ERO’s public safety priorities and eliminates the need for formal extradition requests.
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