U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) St. Paul office removed a foreign fugitive wanted in Mexico from the country this week. He has been deported on at least two prior occasions and has faced domestic assault and DUI charges in Minnesota, ICE said.
This is not uncommon, according to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) wing. ERO said it arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories in fiscal year 2022. This group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including 21,531 assault offenses, 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses, 5,554 weapons offenses, 1,501 homicide-related offenses, and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.
ERO’s St. Paul Field Office has removed three foreign fugitives wanted in their home countries for murder so far this year.
On Tuesday, ERO officers escorted 27-year-old Saul Ceniceros Santoyo from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to Laredo International Airport in Laredo, Texas. From there he was transported to a port of entry and handed over to authorities in Mexico, where he is wanted for robbery.
ICE said it first encountered Santoyo at the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis in November 2019 when he was charged with domestic assault and threats of violence. He was deported in December 2019.
Border Patrol agents then discovered Santoyo in Hebbronville, Texas, in November 2020 and immediately returned him to Mexico, but he still managed to get back into the country at a later, unknown date, according to ICE.
He was then convicted of two counts of violating a domestic abuse no-contact order in Hennepin County in November 2022 and sentenced to 90 days in jail, ICE said.
In February of this year, he was referred to St. Paul’s ERO agents for possible enforcement action when he was arrested on DUI charges, ICE’s press release explained.
He was then arrested by federal agents on May 5 during a targeted enforcement action.
“Removing potentially dangerous foreign fugitives from our communities is an important part of maintaining public safety,” said ERO St. Paul Field Office Director Peter Berg. “ERO St. Paul will continue to pursue dangerous individuals and organizations who infringe on our public safety.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
