ERO Dallas arrests Mexican national charged with aggravated assault on a public servant

DALLAS - Officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas arrested Santos Victor Hernandez-Garcia, an unlawfully present 60-year-old Mexican citizen charged with aggravated assault of a public servant, Sept. 24 in Wichita Falls, Texas.

"ERO Dallas will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our Texas and Oklahoma communities," said ERO Dallas Field Office Director Marcos Charles.

The Houston Police Department arrested Hernandez for first degree murder with a deadly weapon on July 12, 1990. Hernandez was convicted of the charge in the 174th District Court in Harris County, Texas, on January 15, 1991, and sentenced to 20 years confinement.

The Office of the Inspector General for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice charged Hernandez for harassment by persons in a correctional facility on Feb. 28, 2002, and Hernandez was convicted of the charge and sentenced to three years confinement by the 3rd District Court in Anderson County, Texas on June 13, 2002.

Hernandez entered the U.S. at an unknown date, at an unknown location, without inspection.

ERO Dallas lodged an immigration detainer against Hernandez with the Wichita, Texas County jail on June 27, 2017 and officers from ERO Dallas took custody of Hernandez on Sept. 24, serving him with a warrant of removal.

Detainers are critical public safety tools which focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved - ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public - by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Detainers also conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE's mission to increase public safety in our ERO Dallas communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ERODallas.