ICE Arrests More than 400 International Fugitives

Thanks to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP), 406 foreign fugitives were arrested this fiscal year. 

Up from 74 arrests in 2011, this year marks the most foreign fugitive arrests, thanks to help from domestic and international law enforcement partners, including the team at ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). More than 1,500 foreign fugitives have been arrested since 2011.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) National Fugitive Operations Program, originally established in 2003, prioritizes its efforts on removable aliens who are national security and public safety threats, including transnational gang members, convicted criminals, sex offenders, and foreign fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad, according to a release from ICE.

For example, those ERO officers assigned to Interpol’s Washington, DC office work alongside officers, attorneys and analysts from other DHS components, the Department of Justice and the Department of State.

Together, the teams: confirm identities and criminal warrants with foreign countries and HSI abroad, provide fugitive lead referrals to officers and agents in the field, help obtain travel documents, and coordinate with Justice and State on matters of extradition.

According to ICE, Interpol uses a color-coded system of notices and alerts, as well as an advanced, secure communications network to share intelligence and analysis, informing the 190 member nations of a variety of potential threats. The most well-known of these are the organization’s red notices, which have been described as the closest thing to an international arrest warrant in use today.

To learn more about HSI’s work, watch the video below.