News Releases and Statements

The flight, contracted by the Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Flight Operations Unit, carried a total of 83 individuals ordered removed from the United States by immigration courts. Those removed had been held at various detention facilities around the country, and were staged at the Batavia, N.Y., Federal Detention Facility shortly before the flight, which departed from Niagara Falls International Airport.

Of the 1,808 individuals arrested in California, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, and Texas, 1,069 were immigration fugitives. An immigration fugitive is someone who has ignored a final order of deportation or who has returned to the United States illegally after being removed. More than 70 percent of the aliens taken into custody are immigration fugitives or have criminal histories.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams in northern California was a previously deported Mexican national whose criminal history includes prior convictions for transportation and sale of heroin. Mauro Preciado-Preciado, 31, was arrested by ICE Fugitive Operations officers at his Sacramento residence Tuesday.

Five fugitive operations teams worked on this Texas operation. Those arrested are from the following countries: El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, Kenya, Guatemala and Honduras. The five participating fugitive operations teams are based in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams locally was a 30-year-old Mexican national who was convicted in 1997 for robbery and sentenced to four years in state prison. Last year, Cesar Hernandez-Gallardo lost his appeal to remain in the United States and failed to depart after being ordered deported by an immigration judge. ICE officers also arrested a 37-year-old Mexican national at his residence in Escondido, whose criminal record includes a prior conviction for burglary.

Among those arrested by the Fugitive Operations Teams locally was a previously deported Mexican national who was convicted in the mid-1990s of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14. Mariano Ceja-Ochoa, 31, was taken into custody by ICE officers May 9 in Dana Point, Calif. Ceja is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office for felony re-entry after deportation, a violation that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The eight items, believed to be of ceremonial use, date back to 2000 B.C. from a civilization known as Bactria, located in modern-day Northern Afghanistan. This date and location identify them with what is called "the Bronze Age" of Bactria. They were the metal remnants of items that would have had handles of wood or bone: a spear, two axes, and dagger and knife blades.

Among those taken into custody by ICE was Juan Romualdo Martinez-Baldivia, 40, a citizen of Mexico with multiple convictions including driving under the influence, shoplifting and assault. Martinez-Baldivia had been a fugitive since 2006, when he was ordered to leave the United States by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last week, 305 of the 389 were arrested on criminal charges. Since then, six juvenile cases were dismissed, and three additional defendants were arrested. Of the 302 persons charged criminally only five have pending cases. As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation; a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Jose Luis Cuellar-Salazar, also known as Jose Salazar, 33, a citizen of Honduras, pleaded guilty today before United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to one count of illegally re-entering the United States after being deported. This case was investigated by ICE Detention and Removal Operations.

The cache of fossils, including prehistoric pine cones and dinosaur eggs, was seized two years ago by ICE agents at a gem and mineral show in Tucson, Ariz.

The 11 suspects were taken into custody at the following locations: six in the Western District of New York, one in Bradford, Pa, two in W Va., and two in the Cleveland, Ohio area.

During the two-week operation, which concluded Friday, ICE deportation officers located and arrested 332 immigration violators. The breakdown of the arrests by county are as follows: (147) in Miami-Dade, (104) in Broward and (81) in Palm Beach.

During the two-day operation, which ended March 30, ICE Fugitive Operations Team members arrested 28 illegal aliens, including four with criminal convictions. There were 23 men and five women. Twenty were from Guatemala, six from Mexico, and two from El Salvador.

Most of those arrested - 15 - are from Guatemala; eight are from Mexico; one is from El Salvador; and one is from Iran. Eighteen of those arrested are men; seven are women.

During the operation, which concluded yesterday, ICE officers located and arrested 345 immigration violators who were at large in five Southland counties - Los Angeles (194), Orange (43), Riverside/San Bernardino (68), and Ventura (40).

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, New York, Wisconsin and Missouri. ICE's Detroit Fugitive Operations Team made 85 arrests, including 66 fugitives, and 21 aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place throughout Metro Detroit. Those arrested are from the following countries: Albania, Bangladesh, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jamaica, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Russia, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: New York, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Missouri. Of the 52 aliens arrested by ICE's Buffalo Fugitive Operations Team, 21 were fugitives, and 22 were aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place in Binghamton (30 arrests) and Syracuse (22 arrests).

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri. In Chicago, four teams comprised of ICE officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force fanned out across the city and surrounding areas and arrested 30 fugitive aliens, including 24 males and six females.

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin. Of the 34 aliens arrested by ICE's Kansas City Fugitive Operations Team, 10 were fugitives, and two were aliens with criminal convictions. The arrests took place in the following Missouri cities: Springfield, Neosho, Carthage, Joplin, Webb City, Monnet, Branson and Willow Springs. Those arrested are from the following countries: El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and The Philippines.

Eleven fugitive operations teams made 225 arrests in: Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Indiana and Missouri. Of the 24 arrested by ICE's Milwaukee Fugitive Operations Team, 13 were immigration fugitives with outstanding deportation orders, and 11 were immigration violators encountered during the course of the targeted operation.

Among those being targeted are illegal aliens with felony criminal records, as well as legal permanent residents of the United States whose criminal convictions make them subject to deportation. The arrests so far include people on probation for sex offenses, drug crimes, and aliens with prior convictions for violent crimes.

Of the 147 foreign nationals taken into custody by the Fugitive Operations Teams last month, 67 had criminal records, including prior convictions for child sex offenses, burglary, drugs, domestic violence and firearms violations.

Salvatore Dalessandro, Special Agent-In-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the arrest of Edward George Johnson, an active U.S. Army helicopter pilot, on charges relating to his sale of stolen Egyptian antiquities.

During the operation, which began Jan. 25 and ended Sunday, ICE officers arrested 20 immigration violators living in Green Bay and the surrounding counties. Of that number, 18 of those were immigration fugitives who have ignored final orders of deportation issued by federal immigration judges. ICE officers also arrested two non-fugitive immigration violators, including a Mexican national who had been previously deported.