News Releases and Statements

John Patrick Gordon Dane, 36, of Virginia Beach, received the four-year prison sentence Feb. 26 at the U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

ERO Chicago arrested a 44-year-old unlawfully present fugitive being sought by law enforcement authorities in Mexico for aggravated homicide.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment March 5 charging Verena May Mathis, 24, of Capitol Heights, with sexual exploitation of a child and with child sex trafficking.

Today’s announcement is designed to advance these core values — requiring our law enforcement personnel to use body-worn cameras is an important step in modernizing ICE operations while building trust and confidence in our dedicated law enforcement professionals.

Gerardo Ignacio Castillo-Lopez, 32, of Mexico received the 42-month federal prison sentence March 7 at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

Brazilian authorities have sought custody of the Brazilian national since June 2022 for the offense of statutory rape, which is defined under Brazilian law as consensual sexual contact with a person under age 14. He is wanted by a criminal court in the province of Parana, Brazil.

HSI's C3 Child Exploitation Investigations Unit conducted Operation Renewed Hope II, from Feb. 26 through March 8, resulting in the location and positive identification of 19 previously unknown child sexual abuse victims, which includes 8 victims rescued from active abuse.

ICE engages with stakeholders nationwide, including state, local, tribal, territorial governments, elected officials, and law enforcement, the private sector, faith-based organizations and colleges and universities.

The Nigerian citizen entered the United States in New York, New York, under the conditions of a nonimmigrant tourist visa in May 2017. He violated the terms of his visa by remaining in the United States beyond the time authorized.

ICE remains committed to ensuring that all those in its custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout the entirety of their stay.

ERO Boston apprehended a 44-year-old Colombian national and convicted sex offender Feb. 14 in East Boston.

ERO arrested Syed Mohamed Tousif Mohiuddin, a 39-year-old citizen of India unlawfully present at-large noncitizen March 5.

The new building will replace four dormitories that were built when the ICE-owned facility was established in 1966. It will hold 216 people; the El Paso Processing Center has the capacity to hold 840 detainees.

Those included removal flights to Albania, Georgia, Central America, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Romania and Uzbekistan.

Born out of tragedy, the Bridegan Foundation has presented the 50th Bexley Box to HSI Jacksonville special agents and task force officers with the child exploitation group.

ERO Baltimore arrested an unlawfully present Guatemalan national convicted of a 2021 assault on a Maryland resident. Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Criminal Apprehension Program apprehended the 37-year-old noncitizen March 4 outside of his residence in Lanham.

ICE ERO Houston, with assistance from ERO Honduras and SAFE in Honduras, removed Jorge Munoz Pineda, a 32-year-old unlawfully present Honduran national, from the United States on March 8. Munoz is wanted in Honduras for homicide.

ICE ERO Chicago arrested 28 noncitizens with sex offense convictions during a nationwide law enforcement effort that netted 275 noncitizen sex offenders. The operation ran from Feb. 5 to Feb. 16.

Tony Cardenas, 36, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for profit and conspiracy to commit money laundering on Nov. 17, 2023.

During this operation, ERO St. Paul used an intelligence-driven enforcement model to target noncitizens who have committed egregious sex crimes while in violation our nation’s immigration laws.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston apprehended the 23-year-old Honduran national Feb. 27 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Joaquin Villalobos Navarro, 54, was turned over to Mexican authorities at the border in Brownsville, Texas, Feb. 28.

An immigration detainer is a request from ICE to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released, allowing ERO to assume custody for possible removal to the subject’s home country in accordance with federal law.

Cesar Daniel Hernandez-Ortiz, 23, and Angel Gabriel Lopez-Alvarado, 18, remain in federal custody charged with human smuggling. The men, both Mexican nationals unlawfully present in the United States, and 25 undocumented noncitizens were discovered in a stash house in the 200 block of Sofia Place in the Lower Valley.

Thomas Evans, the firearms, defensive tactics and taser instructor for ERO Miami’s Tampa field office, took the top spot in the Pistol Caliber Carbine, C-class during the 2024 U.S. Practical Shooting Association’s Florida State Championships, outshooting 20 other shooters in his class.