ICE detainee captured, returned to detention

WINNFIELD, La. — Law enforcement partners across the region worked together to recapture an escaped detainee from the Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield Feb. 8.

“We are proud and grateful for the efforts of our ICE officers as well as federal, state and local partners to assist in the rapid capture of this individual,” said New Orleans Field Office Director Mellissa Harper. “Because of the partnerships we share with our local law enforcement agencies, everyone was able to swiftly respond to the situation.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainee Irguin Joel Padilla-Castro, 26, a Honduran national, was captured the same day of his early morning escape from the ICE detention facility in central Louisiana.

When authorities discovered the escape, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New Orleans worked with the Winn Parish Sheriff Office, the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Louisiana State Police and the U.S. Marshals Service to apprehend the subject.

Castro has a pending misdemeanor charge of third-degree domestic battery in Little Rock, Arkansas. His removal proceedings are ongoing.

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.

Learn more about ERO New Orleans’s mission to increase public safety in your community on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ERONewOrleans.

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