ICE arrests 175 sexual predators in PA, WV, DE in 2015

PHILADELPHIA — More than 14 dozen criminal sexual predator aliens were deported or are facing deportation proceedings after they were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in the last year.

"With nearly two hundred sexual predator aliens out of our communities, our children are more protected, and our society is safer," said Tom Decker, ERO Philadelphia field office director. "Our deportation officers will continue to target those criminal aliens who pose the most threat to the public."

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2015, the 175 criminals were arrested in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia as part of the ERO Philadelphia's focus on removing criminal aliens, both who are here illegally and who whose legal status was revoked by an immigration judge due to their crimes. These aliens are priorities for removal under the established in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Nov. 20, 2014 memorandum entitled "Policies for the Apprehension, Detention and Removal of Undocumented Immigrants."

The arrests included a 43-year-old Dominican Republic man, Luis Rosado, who was a legal resident in the United States, but an immigration judge revoked his legal status when he solicited anal sex and sexually assaulted a child between the ages of 5 and 11.

After being charged with seven assault offenses in Philadelphia, in January 2014, he was found guilty of sexual contact with a minor; endangering the welfare of children; corruption of minors; indecent assault against someone less than 13 years old. ERO Philadelphia sent a detainer/request for notification of his release, but the request was not honored. He was released into the community after his sentence of 11 and a half to 23 months confinement. Immigration enforcement officers investigated his whereabouts and arrested him in Philadelphia Oct. 1, 2015. After his immigration proceedings, he was deported back to his home country Dec. 15, 2015.

A 24-year-old Bangladesh national, Faud Matin, was also arrested outside his home in Philadelphia by ERO officers in April 2015 because of his November 2013 sexual assault against a minor conviction. He was arrested in Philadelphia and charged with 13 offenses against a minor, and he pleaded guilty to unlawful contact with a minor – sexual offenses and corruption of minors.

Other arrests in the three-state area include:

• A 36-year-old Jamaican national who was convicted in a trial for indecent assault on young girls less than 13 years old in 2014.
• A 27-year-old Netherland Antilles national who was convicted of sexual intercourse of a person less than 13 years old and rape of a person less than 13 years old.

• A 43-year-old El Salvadoran national who was convicted of child sexual abuse.
• A 20-year-old Bosnian national who was convicted of multiple offenses in relation to the sexual abuse of a minor and child pornography.
• A 38-year-old Bolivian national who was convicted of raping a child under the age of 13.

According to the DHS enforcement policies most of these criminals were Priority 1 targets, which include threats to national security, criminal street gang members, convicted felons, and aggravated felons. Priority 2 targets have convictions for three or more misdemeanors or convictions for significant misdemeanors, including DUIs.

The foreign nationals detained, who are not being criminally prosecuted, are processed administratively for removal from the United States. Those who have outstanding orders of deportation, or who returned to the United States illegally after being deported, are subject to immediate removal from the country. The remaining individuals are in ICE custody awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge, pending travel arrangements for removal in the near future, or have been deported.

ICE prioritizes the use of enforcement personnel, detention space, and removal assets to support the civil immigration enforcement priorities. By taking criminals who pose public safety threats off community streets and removing them from the country, ICE addresses a significant security and public safety vulnerability.

This enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE's National Fugitive Operations Program, which locates, arrests and removes at-large criminals. The officers who conducted this operation received assistance from ICE's Fugitive Operations Support Center and ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center, both located in Williston, Vermont.

In fiscal 2015, ICE removed or returned 235,413 individuals. Of this total, 165,935 were apprehended while, or shortly after, attempting to illegally enter the United States. The remaining 69,478 were apprehended in the interior of the United States, and the vast majority were convicted criminals who fell within ICE's civil immigration enforcement priorities.

98 percent of ICE's fiscal 2015 removals and returns fell into one or more of ICE's civil immigration enforcement priorities, with 86 percent falling in Priority 1 and 8 percent in Priority 2. In addition, ICE's interior enforcement activities led to an increase in the percentage of interior removals that were convicted criminals, growing from 82 percent in fiscal 2013 to 91 percent in 2015.