ICE arrests illegal Salvadoran migrant wanted for human trafficking: ‘disturbing’

TISBURY, Mass. (TNND) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced Monday the arrest of an illegal Salvadoran migrant wanted for crimes against humanity and human trafficking in his home country.

The 50-year-old fugitive entered the United States in November 1994 near Harlingen, Texas, according to ICE. Border Patrol at the time released the migrant and served him with a summons to appear before an immigration judge.

In June 1995, a judge ordered the migrant deported from the country to El Salvador. He was later convicted of disorderly conduct in Superior Court in Portland, Maine, in July 2003, according to ICE.

Boston Enforcement and Removal (ERO) agents then arrested the migrant in February 2009 near Framingham, Massachusetts. He was released on a “monitored order,” ICE wrote.

The migrant was placed in an Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program and given a Departure Plan, a program that ensures “compliance with conditions of release” while ICE works to remove migrants from the United States, according to the agency. ICE reported that he “violated the terms of the ATD program.”

The ERO deported the migrant to El Salvador in June 2011. He then re-entered the United States at an unknown date and location without being inspected by immigration officials, according to ICE.

Salvadoran authorities charged the migrant with crimes against humanity and illegal human trafficking in July 2011. ERO Boston then re-arrested the migrant near Tisbury, Massachusetts, in September 2024. He is currently held by the ERO.

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“This Salvadoran fugitive is wanted by authorities in his native country to face extremely serious and disturbing allegations,” said Patricia Hyde, Acting Director of the ERO Boston Field Office. “He tried to hide in Massachusetts and escape the law in his home state. He posed a significant threat to the people of Martha’s Vineyard. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety in all of our New England communities by arresting and deporting egregious non-citizen violators.

ICE released new data last week indicating that up to 425,000 convicted felons are living in the United States illegally. Of those on the docket, more than 60,000 were convicted of assault, about 16,000 of sexual assault and nearly 57,000 of crimes involving “dangerous drugs.”

The figures were last updated in July. ICE said in a letter to Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, that the numbers come from the refusal of local prosecutors to comply with its detention requests, which ask police to hold migrants in custody to give to the ICE while receiving them.

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