A Brazilian native convicted of fraud in his home country was arrested in Massachusetts by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston agents and sentback to Brazil, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced March 15.
Jairo Soares-Pereira, 37, "an unlawfully present foreign fugitive," was arrested in Malden, Mass. Feb. 21 and flown back to Brazil March 10, the news release reports. Soares-Pereira was convicted of fraud in September 2019 by a criminal court in Itambacuri, Brazil and sentenced to 40 months in prison, according to the release.
“This arrest and subsequent fugitive removal is a direct result of the critical support and cooperation of both our international and local law enforcement partners — men and women whose dedication should be applauded,” ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in the release.
U.S. Border Patrol apprehended Soares-Pereira near San Luis, Ariz., In April 2021, tand charged him with "inadmissibility" per U.S. immigration law. He was issued a Notice to Appear before a federal immigration judge and released on an order of recognizance, according to the release.
ERO Boston was alerted to Soares-Pereira's fugitive status by Brazilian authorities, and its Fugitive Operations Team located and arrested Soares-Pereira "without incident," the release states. ICE's Air Operations Unit coordinated a charter flight that flew Soares-Pereira to Tancredo Neves International Airport in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil on March 10.
In the 2022 fiscal year, ERO arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories. The group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including the following; 21,351 assault offenses, 8,164 sex and sexual offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.
“Perpetrators of these types of crimes care very little about the havoc they cause to the victims involved," Lyons said in the release, "but ERO Boston and our partners do."
