ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) is responsible for enforcing our nation’s immigration laws by identifying, arresting, and removing from the U.S. noncitizens who pose a danger to our communities, those who pose national security concerns, and those who defy the integrity of our nation’s immigration system.
Deportation officers (DOs) are the engine around which ERO operates, and they perform a wide variety of functions. DOs arrest individuals in the community, manage the cases of noncitizens going through immigration proceedings, manage individuals under ICE supervision, coordinate with foreign consulates for travel documents, transport noncitizens between detention facilities, identify noncitizens serving criminal sentences in local and state facilities, coordinate with Interpol to arrest noncitizens who committed serious crimes overseas, and execute warrants of removal.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review reviews the charges of removability to determine whether the noncitizen should be removed from the United States to their home countries based on U.S. law. Depending on the background of the noncitizen, DOs may accompany them on their commercial removal flights. Other noncitizens are removed via ICE Air, a charter service ICE utilizes. Like other law enforcement officers, DOs are exposed to dangerous people and situations on a regular basis, and although they take all necessary precautions, serious injuries sometimes come with the job.
A common misconception, often perpetuated by some media sources and other organizations, is that ICE randomly targets noncitizens for removal from the United States. DOs can attest that this is not true based on their daily field operations, as well as ICE policy. Just as police officers focus primarily on criminals who pose an immediate threat to the community, ICE ERO officers do the same. They do not perform “raids” as some media outlets claim. They carry out targeted enforcement operations based on careful research and surveillance of known criminal noncitizens.
In what follows, we will show how ERO works with law enforcement partners to accomplish ICE’s public safety mission, as we profile several DOs from ERO Newark who describe the range of specialties involved in the job.
Profiles
Bobby
The first thing DO Bobby mentions in the interview is Field Office Director (FOD) Tsoukaris of the Newark ICE ERO office and Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer Margraff. “If it weren’t for FOD Tsoukaris initially establishing these partnerships with other federal law enforcement agencies and SDDO Margraff’s outstanding work as the first Newark ERO DO assigned as a Task Force Officer (TFO) to FBI Newark JTTF, we wouldn’t be in the position we are today with our partners. FOD Tsoukaris and SDDO Margraff paved the way not only for more partnerships with the FBI, but with other agencies such as ATF and DEA.”
This is typical of Bobby, who is probably the last person to sing his own praises, but rather tips his hat to the ones who made it possible for him to be a TFO with the FBI. Modest and soft spoken, Bobby brings an intensity and focus to his work that are qualities he shares with others in this article. Real heroes always deny that they are that.
In his nine years as a TFO with FBI Newark, Bobby has become an expert the hard way on the notorious MS-13 gangs, comprised largely of Salvadoran noncitizens. Tales of the horrendous acts of violence they commit against rival gangs and immigrant communities have made headlines all over the country.
“MS-13 gang members will use guns when necessary, but they often prefer machetes, which along with their recognizable face and arm tattoos, spark a kind of primal terror among the communities they terrorize. Ordinary workaday noncitizens thank us when we arrest and remove members of this gang from their community. And if there’s one thing I want to make clear here is that noncitizens who come forward and cooperate with us and help us get these guys, have nothing to fear from us. We want to arrest criminal noncitizens who pose dangers to the public at large. Help us do that and we’ll help keep you safe. To put it another way, I’ve never gone after the victim of a crime, citizen or noncitizen.”
Bobby has worked on two large RICO cases that involved 20 convictions for MS-13 members, many of them for murder, others which involved drug and gun trafficking. The TFO team’s work in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) of New Jersey has resulted in life sentences for several MS-13 members.
What he finds most gratifying is very simple: putting the bad guys away. There’s also another advantage that he has as a TFO, which is that TFOs are not hamstrung by the “sanctuary” restrictions common in states like New Jersey. This results in local and state law enforcement cooperation, which results in more criminal arrests.
After all the hard investigative and legwork that goes into his work, which not only involves gang violence but related activities involving foreign-born individuals, such as illegal reentry after removal, document fraud, and drug and gun trafficking, he finds it frustrating to read in the news about “ICE raids.” “We conduct targeted enforcement. ‘Raids’ implies that we go after criminal noncitizens at random, which is never the case.”
When asked how he relaxes after what are often long, stressful workdays, he answered, “Just seeing my wife and children at the end of the day, spending time with them, is really all I need. I also work out and I like motorcycles.”
Devoted officer, husband, and father, we’re fortunate to have you, Bobby, and all the DOs nationwide who risk their lives to arrest criminal noncitizens, so we can all rest a little easier at night.
KT
KT works out of ERO Newark’s Mount Laurel, NJ Suboffice. KT, like many young ICE officers, was initially inspired to join the Department of Homeland Security post 9/11. Beyond that horrendous event, he also was motivated to join by the senseless murder of three high school students by MS-13 members in Newark in 2007. These gang members executed the students, who had no gang affiliations, at point blank range on a basketball court at night.
“It spurred something in me,” said KT, “particularly when I learned that they had no connection to crime and that the guilty parties were gang members who were all in this country illegally. I wanted to be part of the solution, someone who could help prevent such tragedies in the future.”
While he initially started with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at JFK airport, he quickly moved over to ERO.
“It was a natural fit for me, chasing the bad guys, particularly the sort of gang members who do so much to terrorize immigrant communities.”
He has the patience and determination to pursue cases that sometimes take years to solve. Just recently, he tracked down, through various investigative techniques, an MS-13 member who had been previously removed from the U.S. for gun possession and illegally reentered the country.
When asked what his greatest stressors are on the job he answered, “It’s two-fold. First, politically driven decisions that limit local and state cooperation with ICE. Second, public misperception about what we do, this idea that we’re some kind of posse that just goes out and rounds up people who are here illegally. We pride ourselves on our professionalism and dedication to community safety.”
When asked what his greatest rewards are, he said, “Removing individuals from the community who could cause more tragedies like the one that happened on that basketball court back in 2007.”
Thank you, KT, for all you do.
Fletch
“For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a cop,” said Fletch. “But I had some challenges along the way, including ADHD and dyslexia. Also, I was diagnosed as colorblind, even though I could clearly distinguish colors. But a diagnosis of colorblindness meant I couldn’t be a cop, or so it looked like. I opted for a second path: being a paramedic.”
He was so determined to be an EMT, then a paramedic, that he rode his bike to volunteer EMS calls and attended classes on weekends during high school. He was 16 years old. He successfully completed all training necessary to be an EMT.
After completing a degree in Criminal Justice, Fletch was able to take a Farnsworth D-15 test that revealed he was not colorblind. Fletch started his career in law enforcement as a paramedic with the Bureau of Prisons, then transferred to CBP at JFK Airport. Eventually, he transferred to ICE where his background in law enforcement and as a medic is put to good use at the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC). Fletch currently oversees the case management of detained noncitizens in immigration proceedings and the removal process from the U.S.
“Medics and cops share a lot of common ground,” said Fletch. “We’re both trying to help somebody, to determine what went wrong. We have to follow correct processes to keep everyone safe.”
He cites the biggest challenge as a DO is the misperception many in the public and media have of what his job is. “I’m here to help people. That’s why I became a paramedic and why I went into law enforcement. My background comes together at EDC, where my medical and law enforcement skills are put to the test.”
“The biggest reward for me is getting dangerous individuals off the street. This makes our communities safer and creates a better world for our children.”
He cites the Tactical Emergency Medical Support (TEMS) and Defensive Tactics programs he teaches as being particularly useful to officers.
In regard to his work at EDC, he adds, “Society is judged not by how they treat people they have to treat well, but how they treat those they don’t have to treat well.” Mostly, he says, it’s a matter of common decency, letting detainees make calls home, that kind of thing.
He sums up by saying, “I definitely chose the right career path, combining medical skills and law enforcement training into one very satisfying profession.”
Andrew
Andrew was in his second or third day of high school when 9/11 happened. As a resident of Staten Island who knew many families who were part of the New York City Fire and Police Departments, it had a very personal effect on him. The fact that those who committed these terrible acts were in the U.S. illegally and came here expressly to carry out these crimes made him wonder: How do we prevent another 9/11?
His eventual transition from a federal corrections officer to an ICE officer was a natural one.
“I’ve grown up since 9/11. I have children. I have to ask myself, what am I doing to impact their lives? As a DO, our enforcement is very targeted on those who are a threat to public safety. Furthermore, as a DO attached to ATF, I typically deal with crimes that have a violent nexus—shootings, armed robberies, gang activity, and arms trafficking. Arresting foreign-born individuals who violate their immigration status and our laws and removing them from our communities is a public service.”
He cites the violent rivalries that exist between South and Central American gangs and how they terrorize migrant communities.
“It’s terrible. They carry over beefs from back home, shoot randomly into crowds, and do other horrible things like in one case dragging a 62 year old woman down the street on a moped.”
He notes that FOD Tsoukaris has been very supportive of the collaborative efforts between ERO, FBI, ATF, USMS and other federal law enforcement agencies.
“It is enormously rewarding to have this collaboration, to see criminals removed from the streets, face justice and jail time, and be removed from the country. The positive impact this has for victims is enormous. I cannot tell you how many times members of immigrant communities have thanked us for removing these dangerous criminals from their midst. The public misperception that we simply target noncitizens at random couldn’t be further from the truth, particularly when it’s many of those who thank us for our efforts.”
He concludes, “This has been an enormously rewarding career for me, and even more impactful than what I could’ve imagined when I began a career in law enforcement.”
The Final Word from Field Officer Director Tsoukaris
“The officers profiled here are a good cross section of the diverse work and talents of our DOs, both here and across the country,” said FOD Tsoukaris. “It takes years to build the kind of experienced and effective team we have, and it is a point of pride that we have developed such close relationships with our federal law enforcement partners. We also have, despite challenges, built strong partnerships with state and local law enforcement for the benefit of the community. Our partners realize the unique authorities ICE ERO brings to the table, as well as our critical contributions to public safety and national security. Much of this is due to the excellent professionalism and dedication our DOs have consistently demonstrated through the years. I am very proud of our officers, as well as our support staff, who work tirelessly to support the ICE mission and our citizens.”
