BREWSTER, N.Y. – Federal immigration officials have lodged a detainer against a Guatemalan national accused of killing a taxi driver in Putnam County earlier this month, after authorities said the suspect entered the U.S. illegally more than a decade ago and was previously ordered removed.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed the detainer for Santos Paulino Vasquez-Ramirez, who has been charged with homicide and robbery in the death of Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez, a local taxicab driver. Investigators said Vasquez-Ramirez allegedly strangled Zhunio-Orbez to death in Brewster on December 1 following a dispute over a fare.
The victim’s body was discovered nearly a week later, on December 7, floating in the Croton Falls Reservoir.
According to federal officials, Vasquez-Ramirez entered the U.S. unlawfully in October 2013 and was released into the country by the Obama administration. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2016, but the order was never executed. ICE said it has now placed a detainer with local authorities to ensure the suspect remains in custody and can be taken into federal immigration proceedings following his criminal case.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the case underscores the consequences of what she described as past “open border policies.” “Santos Vasquez Ramirez should’ve never been in our country in the first place and provided the opportunity to gruesomely take the life of Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez,” she said. “ICE lodged an arrest detainer with local authorities to ensure this criminal illegal alien is never allowed back into American neighborhoods.”
The Department of Homeland Security urged any victims of crimes committed by noncitizens to contact the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office for assistance.