ERO Boston apprehends Guatemalan national arrested for first-degree sexual assault

HARTFORD, Conn. - Deportation officers from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended an unlawfully present Guatemalan national recently arrested for first-degree sexual assault in Hartford April 18. The 53-year-old Guatemalan native has multiple criminal convictions in New York and Connecticut for offenses including second-degree strangulation, driving while intoxicated and domestic assault.

"ERO Boston prioritizes the apprehension and removal of suspected predators like this, who pose a threat to public safety," said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. "Unlawfully present noncitizens like this individual, who has multiple convictions in two states and was recently arrested for first-degree sexual assault, pose a serious risk to the community. ERO Boston is committed to finding and seeking the removal of these individuals. We will not relent in this fight."

In March 1992, the Guatemalan national lawfully entered the United States in New York.

In September 2008, he was arrested in New Rochelle, New York, and convicted later that month of driving while ability impaired by the consumption of alcohol in New Rochelle criminal court.

In June 2010, the Guatemalan citizen was arrested again and convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York's Westchester County Court.

In 2013, he was convicted of strangulation in the second degree, unlawful restraint second degree, interfering with emergency call and violation of probation in Connecticut Superior Court in Stamford. The court sentenced him to five years in prison, which was reduced to five years of probation. He was also convicted of evading responsibility and injury/property damage, for which he was sentenced to one year in jail.

In March 2015, ERO Boston arrested him on immigration violations in Stamford and served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge.

On March 11, 2015, a DOJ immigration judge in Hartford, Connecticut, ordered the Guatemalan national released on bond. On April 10, 2015, he posted bond and was released from ICE custody.

On June 2, 2016, an immigration judge in Hartford ordered the unlawfully present noncitizen removed to Guatemala.

The Guatemalan citizen was arrested by the Stamford, Connecticut, Police Department Jan. 4, 2021, and charged with sexual assault in the first degree, six counts of risk of injury to a child, stalking in the second degree, and second-degree harassment. He was subsequently released on bond by local authorities pending future prosecution for these felony criminal charges.

On April 18, 2024, deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested the 53-year-old Guatemalan native without incident in Hartford. He will be held in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved - ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public - by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

As one of ICE's three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO's mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency's detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO's workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Members of the public with information regarding child sex offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ERO Boston's mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.

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