ERO Washington, D.C. removes Honduran noncitizen wanted for homicide

WASHINGTON — ERO Washington, D.C. removed an undocumented noncitizen who is wanted by Honduran authorities for the charge of homicide. Deportation officers from the ERO Washington, D.C. field office removed Rojer Mauricio Sarmiento-Gutierres, 45, of Honduras from the United States Dec. 27.

“Rojer Mauricio Sarmiento-Gutierres presented a grave danger to the residents of our Virginia communities every day that he was allowed to walk the streets,” said Assistant Field Office Director Daniel Nichols. “ERO Washington, D.C. operated with our local law enforcement partners to get this unlawfully present noncitizen off of our streets and out of our country. ERO will not allow the world’s criminals to use the Washington, D.C. area as a hideout from justice.”

Sarmiento-Gutierres unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being admitted or paroled by a designated immigration official.

In November 2021, USCIS issued Sarmiento-Gutierres a notice to appear, before a Department of Justice (DOJ) immigration judge, charging inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act, as a noncitizen present in the United States without inspection.

Upon learning of his presence in the area, ERO Washington arrested Sarmiento-Gutierres in Chantilly, Virginia, April 18 and served him a notice of custody determination.

The DOJ immigration judge in Annandale, Virginia, ordered Sarmiento-Gutierres removed from the United States to Honduras On September 29.

Deportation officers from ERO Washington, D.C. removed Sarmiento-Gutierres from the United States to Honduras Dec. 27.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). EOIR is a separate entity from DHS 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 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) three operational directorates, Enforcement and Removal Operations (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.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)