SEATTLE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers removed a man to Mexico, Mar. 23, who was convicted of a 2011 murder.
On Sep. 10, 2011, Nicolas Patistan-Perez was arrested by the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Department, in Okanogan, Washington, for charges of murder in the second degree. On Dec. 15, 2011, he was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to 123 months. On Sept. 23, 2011, immigration officials encountered Patistan-Perez at the Okanogan County Jail and lodged an immigration detainer with the detention facility. His felony conviction makes him a current ICE priority for enforcement.
ICE is charged with enforcing federal immigration laws enacted by Congress. ICE officers are sworn law enforcement officers who carry out the arrest, detention and removal of individuals found to be in the United States unlawfully.
ICE lodges immigration detainers on individuals, like Patistan-Perez, who have been arrested on local criminal charges and who are suspected of being removable, so that ICE can take custody of that person when he or she is released from local custody.
Patistan-Perez entered ICE custody Feb. 10. On March 16, an immigration judge ordered Patistan-Perez removed to Mexico.
On March 23, Patistan-Perez was removed from the United States via an ICE Air Operations charter flight and transferred to the custody of Mexican authorities.
ICE is now implementing the interim civil immigration enforcement priorities directed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Jan. 20, to focus its limited resources on threats to national security, border security and public safety. ICE will continue to carry out is duty to enforce th