An MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha) gang member wanted for homicide by El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities was removed from the U.S. Friday by deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
Raul Ramos-Guido, 32, was a convicted criminal alien illegally residing in the U.S. and had previously been deported to El Salvador in January 2014.
On Friday, he departed the U.S. from Alexandria International Airport in Louisiana under escort by ERO deportation officers.
He was transferred to El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities upon his arrival in San Salvador, El Salvador.
ERO deportation officers most recently arrested Ramos on immigration violations in April 2015 at his residence in Falls Church, Virginia.
Ramos was targeted for immigration enforcement because he was an aggravated felon who had previously been removed from the U.S. After his arrest, he was subsequently prosecuted and convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia on criminal charges of illegal re-entry and sentenced to 36 months in prison.
While Ramos was serving time in federal custody, Interpol, on behalf of El Salvadoran law enforcement authorities, issued a Red Notice for his arrest.
He was wanted on homicide charges in his home country.
On Dec. 26, ERO assumed custody of Ramos after his release from federal prison to facilitate his removal.
“ICE is committed to ensuring that our communities are not poisoned by the violent gang members that operate within them,” said ERO Washington Field Office Director Russ Hott.
“We stand by our partners in law enforcement across the local, federal and international communities as we work in tandem to continue maintaining our collective safety and security.”
ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.
(ERO enforces the nation’s immigration laws in a fair and effective manner. It identifies and apprehends removable aliens, detains these individuals when necessary and removes illegal aliens from the U.S. This unit prioritizes the apprehension, arrest and removal of convicted criminals, those who pose a threat to national security, fugitives and recent border entrants. Individuals seeking asylum also work with ERO.)
ERO leverages its SAFE taskforce to prioritize criminal alien removal efforts on returning Salvadoran nationals previously identified as having active warrants of arrest or Interpol Red Notices, to include MS-13 gang members.
The taskforce provides criminal history on Salvadoran nationals who may have fled to the United Sates to evade justice for their crimes in El Salvador, and are now in removal proceedings or living in the United States legally or illegally.
ICE removed or returned 226,119 aliens in fiscal year 2017.
The proportion of FY17 removals resulting from ICE arrests increased by nearly ten percent over the previous fiscal year, and the number of ICE interior removals in FY17 increased by over 15,000 from FY16.
