ERO Houston removes unlawfully present Mexican fugitive wanted for attempted homicide
HOUSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, removed Cruz Aranda-Garcia, a 38-year-old unlawfully present Mexican national, from the United States Jan. 18. Aranda-Garcia is wanted in Mexico for attempted homicide.
Deportation officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transported Aranda-Garcia from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo. Upon arrival, he was transferred into the custody of Mexican law enforcement authorities.
“Aggressively pursuing foreign fugitives and criminal noncitizens who present a threat to public safety is a top priority for ERO Houston,” said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. “By apprehending and removing dangerous foreign fugitives like this individual who was not only wanted for attempted murder in Mexico, but had also been convicted of a violent felony in the U.S., we are able to bolster public safety in our local communities and fulfill our critical mission to enforce our nation’s immigration laws.”
Aranda-Garcia first illegally entered the United States on Nov. 11, 2003, near Brownsville. He was immediately apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol and voluntarily returned to Mexico. On Nov. 29, 2019, Aranda-Garcia illegally reentered the United States near Laredo. That same day, he was apprehended by Border Patrol officers near Cotulla and transferred into the custody of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office pursuant to a criminal warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
On May 7, 2021, the 351st Harris County District Court convicted Aranda-Garcia of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and he was sentenced to four years in state prison. On June 4, 2021, ERO Houston lodged an immigration detainer for Aranda-Garcia with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
On Dec. 8, 2023, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice transferred Aranda-Garcia into ERO Houston custody, and he was detained at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe pending disposition of his immigration proceedings. On Jan. 4, 2024, an immigration judge with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Aranda-Garcia removed to Mexico. ERO Houston immigration officers carried out that order and removed Aranda-Garcia to Mexico Jan. 18.
Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.
For more news and information on how ERO Houston carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas, follow us on Twitter @EROHouston.
The SAFE Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain and remove individuals residing in the United States illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation’s AAR, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general and national identification repositories — as well as other regional, national, state and local government agencies. The managing AAR ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program’s standard operating procedures. Once established, the AAR-led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.
As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, 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)
