ICE arrests Salvadoran national charged with rape in Massachusetts

ICE arrests Salvadoran national charged with rape in Massachusetts

BOSTON U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Salvadoran national in Boston on January 22 who had been charged with raping a Massachusetts resident, authorities said.

Jose Garcia-Salmeron, 34, was taken into custody by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) after being previously ordered removed from the United States in 2007. He had been arrested by Revere police in July 2024 on a rape charge and later indicted in Suffolk Superior Court.

Garcia was initially apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol in 2007 after unlawfully entering the country and was released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. An immigration judge ordered his removal in November of that year. Despite an immigration detainer placed by ERO Boston in 2024, the Chelsea District Court released Garcia from custody on July 26.

“Jose Garcia-Salmeron is charged with victimizing one of our Massachusetts residents and represents a significant threat to the safety of Massachusetts neighborhoods,” said ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde.

Garcia remains in ICE custody as officials move forward with deportation proceedings.