ICE Houston removes Salvadoran fugitive wanted for ties to criminal street gang

HOUSTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston field office, with assistance from ERO El Salvador and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement Task Force, removed Maria Idalia Aguilera-De Menjivar, a 53-year-old unlawfully present Salvadoran fugitive from the United States July 26. Aguilera is wanted in El Salvador for ties to a terrorist organization - the 18th Street Gang.

Aguilera was flown from Alexandria, Louisiana, on a charter flight coordinated by ICE's Air Operations Unit to the Monsenor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport in San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon arrival, she was turned over to Salvadoran law enforcement authorities.

"Foreign fugitives and violent transnational gang members who are in the U.S. illegally pose a direct threat to public safety and undermine the integrity of our nation's immigration laws," said ERO Houston acting Field Office Director Gabriel Martinez. "Working in conjunction with our foreign and domestic law enforcement partners, ERO Houston will continue to identify, apprehend and remove these threats to public safety from the local community and repatriate them to their country of origin."

Aguilera illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and at an unknown location without inspection, admission or parole by a U.S. immigration officer. On May 2, 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Aguilera near Roma, Texas. On May 7, 2016, Border Patrol officials transferred Aguilera into ERO San Antonio custody, and she was released on an order of recognizance.

On April 4, 2018, an immigration judge with the Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review ordered Aguilera removed from the United States to El Salvador. Aguilera appealed the immigration judge's decision with the Board of Immigration Appeals on April 23, 2018. On Feb. 18, 2020, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Aguilera's appeal.

While waiting for a decision on her appeal, Aguilera failed to report to ICE and absconded from immigration authorities. On April 30, 2024, ERO Houston Fugitive Operations officers successfully tracked down Aguilera and arrested her at a residence in Houston. On July 26, ERO Houston removed Aguilera to El Salvador.

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 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.