Two migrants with violent criminal records were included among a host of migrants removed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the Thanksgiving holiday week. According to ICE, the violent offenders were wanted in their home countries for murder and attempted murder in Honduras and Ecuador. The pair of violent offenders were among hundreds removed during the holiday weekend.
Officers assigned to the Chicago ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Office (ERO) deported Edwin Fernando Figueroa-Martinez, a migrant found to be unlawfully present and wanted by authorities in Honduras for murder. According to ICE, Figueroa-Martinez was arrested by ICE in Lyons, Illinois in August and removed on Monday to Honduras, where he was turned over to law enforcement authorities in that country to face outstanding murder charges.
On Tuesday, ICE ERO officers in Philadelphia removed Jonathan Javier Arequipa Montesdeoca, a citizen of Ecuador, with a final order of removal to his home country of Ecuador. Arequipa-Montesdeoca is a foreign fugitive wanted by law enforcement authorities in Ecuador for attempted murder.
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Arequipa near Lukeville, Arizona, in August 2023 after he entered the United States illegally. Within 24 hours, he was released on an order of release on recognizance to pursue asylum. As part of an ICE-ERO reporting program, Arequipa was enrolled in the Compliance Assistance Reporting Terminal with six-month interval reporting requirements.
In November 2023, Arequipa was arrested by the East Orange Police Department in New Jersey for simple assault. On the same date, ERO Newark encountered Arequipa at the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) in Newark, New Jersey, and lodged an immigration detainer with the facility. The next day, ERO Newark arrested him at ECCF. ICE subsequently uncovered the pending charges of attempted murder in Ecuador.
Arequipa-Montesdeoca highlights the dangers of the mass releases of poorly vetted migrants at the southwest border that have taken place under the Biden-Harris administration. Border Patrol agents at the southern border are unable to access criminal history databases in many foreign countries, according to a source within Customs and Border Protection who spoke to Breitbart Texas on the matter.
According to ICE, in addition to the two migrants who faced prosecution upon return to their home countries, ICE Air Operations flights were also used to conduct additional removals during the holiday week for single adults and family units to Central America, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, and Mexico.
Since a proclamation put forth by the Biden-Harris administration containing asylum restrictions under some conditions in June, ICE has removed or returned more than 160,000 individuals to more than 160 countries through the end of September, according to ICE.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.