ICE Houston removes Mexican fugitive wanted for homicide

HOUSTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston, with assistance from ERO Mexico and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Juan Jose Valero Cruz, a 40-year-old Mexican national, from the U.S. to Mexico Aug. 13. Valero Cruz is wanted in Mexico for homicide.

ICE deportation officers transported Valero Cruz from the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe to the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge in Laredo. Upon arrival, he was transferred into the custody of Mexican law enforcement authorities.

"The repatriation of this foreign fugitive would not have been possible without the outstanding support that we receive from our local partners," said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. "By working together, we were able to quickly remove him from the local community before he could present a threat to public safety."

Valero Cruz has illegally entered the United States four times. On May 7, 2003, he illegally entered the United States near Eagle Pass. That same day he was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol near Brackettville and voluntarily returned to Mexico. Valero Cruz illegally reentered the United States on Feb. 6, 2008, near Laredo. He was once again apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol the same day and voluntarily returned to Mexico. Valero Cruz illegally entered the United States for a third time on April 24, 2021, near Eagle Pass. On May 3, 2021, he was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol near Carrizo Springs and expelled from the U.S. under Title 42.

Valero Cruz illegally entered the United States for a fourth time on an unknown date and at an unknown location. On Jan. 8, 2024, ERO Houston received information indicating that he was illegally residing in the Houston area and had an active warrant in Mexico for homicide.

On June 7, the Splendora Police Department encountered Valero Cruz in Splendora. During the encounter, officials identified him as a potential foreign murder suspect and he was taken into custody. That same day, the Splendora Police Department transferred Valero Cruz into ERO Houston custody, and he was placed into immigration proceedings. On Aug. 1, an immigration judge with the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Valero Cruz removed from the United States to Mexico. On Aug. 13, ICE officers removed him to Mexico.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE Tip Line at 866-347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE's online tip form.

For more news and information on how ERO Houston carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas, follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EROHouston.

The SAFE Program is a fugitive enforcement and information sharing partnership that was created in 2012 to better use subject information derived from local in-country investigative resources and leads to locate, apprehend, detain and remove individuals residing in the United States illegally who were subject to foreign arrest warrants. The SAFE Program operates under the respective host nation's AAR, which constructs a SAFE task force composed of relevant foreign law enforcement agencies, immigration authorities, attorneys general and national identification repositories - as well as other regional, national, state and local government agencies. The managing AAR ensures that each task force member complies with SAFE policies and standards consistent with the program's standard operating procedures. Once established, the AAR-led SAFE task force generates new leads and vets existing SAFE fugitive referrals for ERO action.

As one of ICE's three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO's mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency's detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO's workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.