U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently announced a Honduran fugitive with multiple convictions has been arrested on U.S. soil.
According to an ICE news release, Honduran national Juan Jose Meija-Ramirez, 42, was arrested Dec. 19, 2022, by deportation officers from ICE and the Washington, D.C., field office of Enforcement Removal Operations. Meija-Ramirez was wanted for illegal re-entry into the U.S. Mejia-Ramirez was previously removed from the U.S. to his home country of Honduras in May 2009, November 2013 and June 2018.
“Juan Jose Mejia-Ramirez has displayed a pattern of disregard for the American legal system – not only by consistently breaking our laws, but also by repeatedly and unlawfully crossing our borders,” ICE ERO Assistant Director for Enforcement Chris Cronen said in the release. “The dedicated officers who make up ICE ERO have proven time and time again that we are committed to the arrest and removal of any unlawfully present criminal who is looking to endanger the lives of the individuals we have sworn to protect."
Cronen reported ICE ERO continues to protect U.S. communities by enforcing immigration laws "against those who present a danger to our national security, are a threat to public safety or who otherwise undermine the integrity of our immigration system,” according to the release.
Mejia-Ramirez has a long rap sheet in the U.S. dating back to 2001 and includes criminal convictions for manufacturing, sale and/or possession of fictitious operator’s license; felony breaking and entering with intent to commit felony; discharging a firearm or missile in or at an occupied building; solicitation of a prostitute; and driving while intoxicated, the release reported.
For the fiscal year 2021, ERO has arrested 12,025 individuals with aggravated felony convictions, according to the release.
