ERO Boston arrests Guatemalan national convicted of manslaughter in Connecticut

HARTFORD, Conn. - Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended a 23-year-old Guatemalan national convicted of manslaughter. Deportation officers from ERO Boston's Hartford field office arrested Manuel Fernando Alejandor-Martinez June 7 in Durham.

"Manuel Fernando Alejandor-Martinez killed a resident of our Connecticut community," said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. "While operating a motor vehicle, he caused a tragic accident that traumatized an innocent family. Alejandor-Martinez posed a significant threat to the residents of our neighborhoods. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by aggressively arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England."

U.S. Border Patrol arrested Alejandor Feb. 10, 2016, after he unlawfully entered the United States as an unaccompanied minor near Deming, New Mexico. Border Patrol officials issued him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released him to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement. Alejandor was released March 9, 2016.

The West Haven Police Department arrested Alejandor June 16, 2020, and charged him with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle and failure to insure a private motor vehicle. Later that day, ERO lodged an immigration detainer against him with the police department.

The Connecticut Superior Court in Milford convicted Alejandor of second=degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle Dec. 10, 2021, and sentenced him to eight years in prison followed by five years of probation. The court then suspended four years and six months of his prison sentence.

The Connecticut Department of Corrections refused to honor ERO's immigration detainer and released Alejandor to a halfway house Aug. 1, 2023.

On May 10, the Connecticut Department of Corrections discharged Alejandor from the halfway house upon completion of his sentence.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston's Hartford field office arrested Alejandor June 7 in Durham. He remains in ERO custody.

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.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from ICE to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they 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. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

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.

Members of the public with information regarding child sex offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ERO Boston's mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.

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