Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed 121 individuals to El Salvador Sept. 13 on an ICE Air Operations charter flight, including 10 arrested across the U.S. during Operation No Safe Haven V.
Those arrested during the operation are implicated in numerous human rights violations against civilians, including the capture, arrest and/or transport of civilians who were subsequently mistreated, and in some cases, beaten, electrocuted and killed.
“Human rights violators will find no safe haven in the United States,” said David A. Marin, acting deputy executive associate director of ERO. “We will find them and repatriate them to their home countries to face justice.”
ICE arrested a total of 39 fugitives during Operation No Safe Haven V, a nationwide operation that took place Aug. 27-29. The foreign nationals arrested during the operation all have outstanding removal orders and are subject to repatriation to their countries of origin. In addition, 16 are criminal aliens in the U.S., with convictions for crimes including domestic violence, driving under the influence of alcohol, drug distribution, firearms possession, grand theft, reckless endangerment, robbery, fraud and theft.
ICE is committed to identifying, investigating, prosecuting and removing known or suspected human rights violators who seek safe haven in the U.S. ICE’s Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center investigates human rights violators who try to evade justice by seeking shelter in the U.S., including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, severe violations of religious freedom, female genital mutilation/cutting and the use or recruitment of child soldiers. These individuals may use fraudulent identities or falsified documents to enter the country in an attempt to blend into communities in the U.S.
Members of the public who have information about foreign nationals suspected of engaging in human rights abuses or war crimes are urged to contact ICE by calling the toll-free ICE tip line at 1-866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also email [email protected] or complete ICE’s online tip form.
