ICE Houston removes Guatemalan fugitive wanted for robbery

HOUSTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office, with assistance from ERO Guatemala and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Marcos Rafael-Medrano, a 29-year-old unlawfully present Guatemalan fugitive, from the United States Oct. 28. Rafael-Medrano is wanted in Guatemala for robbery.

Rafael-Medrano was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, on a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations Unit to the La Aurora International Airport in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Upon arrival, he was turned over to Guatemalan law enforcement authorities.

"This foreign fugitive illegally entered the United States to evade criminal prosecution abroad," said ERO Houston Field Office Director Bret A. Bradford. "While he was in the country illegally, and on the run from Guatemalan authorities, he continued to break the law by driving while he was intoxicated putting the lives of innocent Texans in jeopardy. Our immigration officers work tirelessly to apprehend and remove threats to public safety like this to protect our local communities from harm and restore integrity to our nation's immigration system."

Rafael-Medrano illegally entered the United States near Sasabe, Arizona on May 30, 2023 and was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol near North Komelik, Arizona. The U.S. Border Patrol released Rafael-Medrano on his own recognizance on June 1, 2023, pending disposition of his immigration proceedings.

ERO Houston lodged an immigration detainer on Rafael-Medrano with the Montgomery County (Texas) Jail on June 30, following his arrest for evading arrest and driving while intoxicated. Rafael-Medrano was convicted of DWI on Aug. 27 in Montgomery County and sentenced to 60 days in jail. The jail transferred Rafael-Medrano into ERO Houston custody on Aug. 29, and he was placed in immigration proceedings. An immigration judge with the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Rafael-Medrano removed from the U.S. to Guatemala on Sept. 26. ICE officers carried out that order on Oct. 28 and removed Rafael-Medrano to Guatemala.

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 the ERO Houston field office carries out its immigration enforcement mission in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @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 Assistant Attache for Removal, 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.

ERO, one of ICE's three operational directorates, 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.