U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a Salvadoran fugitive and suspected MS-13 gang member who who was in the U.S. illegally and was discovered after his arrest in March on a charge of drunken driving.
ICE said in a news release Tuesday that Alexis Bladimir Canizales Romero, 27, who is wanted in El Salvador for aggravated homicide, and unlawful association (gang membership) was deported Aug. 30 on a chartered flight from Alexandria, Louisiana, to an airport in San Salvador, where he was turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement.
"This foreign fugitive and MS-13 gang member illegally entered the United States on multiple occasions to avoid prosecution in his home country of El Salvador for aggravated femicide, aggravated homicide and unlawful association," said Gabriel Martinez, acting field office director at Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, in the news release. "Thanks to the strong relationship we have with local law enforcement partners and the due diligence of our immigration officers, we were able to successfully connect him to these alleged crimes and repatriate him to El Salvador to face justice."
Several people with alleged gang ties have recently been apprehended by ICE.
In June, agents in New York arrested Melvin Orlando Hernandez Villanueva, 27, an illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 gang member wanted by Salvadoran authorities for prosecution on two counts of aggravated homicide. Hernandez was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice for the alleged crimes. He is believed to still be in ICE custody.
In July, ICE captured Raul Orlando Ramos, 38, an illegal immigrant and self-admitted MS-13 member in Annapolis, Maryland. Ramos had previously been convicted of robbery, auto theft, and disorderly conduct. Ramos, who previously had been twice deported, is believed to still be in ICE custody.
ICE said Canizales first illegally entered the U.S. on March 25, 2020, near Hidalgo in southeastern Texas. He was immediately apprehended by Border Patrol agents and expelled under Title 42 that same day.
Canizales illegally reentered the U.S. at an unknown location and date, without inspection, admission, or parole by a U.S. immigration officer, according to ICE. On March 31, Enforcement and Removal Operations in Houston, which deals with the deportation of illegals, encountered Canizales at the Harris County Jail in Houston following his arrest on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Immigration checks confirmed he was in the U.S. illegally and wanted for the charges in El Salvador, and an immigration detainer was lodged with the jail. Texas authorities transferred Canizales into ICE custody at the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, about 41 miles away.
On July 5, an immigration judge ordered Canizales to be removed from the U.S. and returned to El Salvador.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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