The Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Boston field office has deported Wilmer Alexi Garcia-Manzanarez, an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, from the United States, the agency said in a Nov. 26 statement.
Garcia-Manzanarez is a “known MS-13 gang leader and subject of Interpol Red Notices for homicide and terrorist affiliation,” ICE said. MS-13 was designated as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist by the State Department in February.
Garcia-Manzanarez, a fugitive wanted in El Salvador, had been convicted in the United States for crimes such as burglary, menacing/intimidation with a weapon, driving under the influence of alcohol, property damage, and driving without a license, according to ICE.
ICE Boston arrested Garcia-Manzanarez in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on Feb. 18, 2024. He was removed from the United States on Nov. 3 and turned over to Salvadoran authorities.
Border Patrol had arrested Garcia-Manzanarez after he illegally entered the United States in 2001, with an immigration judge from the Department of Justice ordering his removal from the country in 2002. He refused to leave, according to the agency.
ICE said he was deported to El Salvador three times between January 2007 and October 2012, but he returned after all three occasions.
Acting Field Office Director of ICE Boston David Wesling said Garcia-Manzanarez’s removal ensures Massachusetts residents are “exponentially safer.”
“Garcia-Manzanarez represents a significant threat to our Massachusetts communities,” he said. “ICE Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of American citizens by arresting and removing criminal alien threats from New England.”
The deportation comes amid heightened scrutiny over the threat posed by illegal immigrants following an attack against two West Virginia National Guard members on Nov. 26 near the White House.
One National Guard member has since died, while the second remains in critical condition.
The suspected shooter has been identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal from Afghanistan, who entered the United States in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, a Biden-era resettlement program for Afghan nationals launched after the United States withdrew from the nation.
Lakanwal had worked with various U.S. government entities, including the CIA, while in Afghanistan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe told Fox News on Nov. 26.
President Donald Trump said in an Nov. 26 address that “we’re not going to put up with these kinds of assaults on law and order by people who shouldn’t even be in our country.”
“We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary measures to ensure the removal of any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country,” Trump said.
“If they can’t love our country, we don’t want them. America will never bend and never yield in the face of terror.”
Law enforcement officials have been facing rising attacks amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
In a Nov. 18 statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said there has been an “unprecedented surge” in vehicle ramming attacks against ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers.
On Nov. 24, DHS said there have been 238 reported assaults against ICE officers between Jan. 21 and Nov. 21, a 1,153 percent jump from the same period last year.
“Our law enforcement officers have had Molotov cocktails and rocks thrown at them, been shot at, had cars used as weapons against them, and been physically assaulted,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Sanctuary politicians need to tone the rhetoric down before a law enforcement officer is killed. They should be thanking these brave law enforcement officers who risk their lives every single day to arrest pedophiles, rapists, murderers, gang members, and terrorists from our neighborhoods.”