Making Immigration Happen
Chicago Woman Arrested for Selling Fraudulent Identity Documents to Illegal Aliens
A woman was arrested Wednesday, February 13, 2013, on charges she allegedly sold fraudulent identity documents to illegal aliens. These charges resulted from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigra

Tag Archives: Connecticut

ICE and HSI Send Warning to International Child Predators

American tourists, with twisted overseas travel plans to engage in child sex tourism, may think they are beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. However, they should know that it is a priority for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to apprehend and prosecute U.S. citizens who engage in sexual acts with minors in foreign countries.

Millions of American citizens travel abroad on a regular basis. While the vast majority of them are law abiding, some commit sexual crimes against minors in foreign countries. Each year, over a million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. Child sex tourism involves people who travel from their home country to another and engage in commercial sex acts with children. Child sex tourism is a shameful assault on the dignity of children and a form of child abuse and violence. For the minors involved, these acts have devastating consequences, which may include long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism and possibly death.

Tourists engaging in child sex tourism often travel to developing countries looking for anonymity and the availability of children in prostitution. The crime is typically fueled by weak local law enforcement, corruption, the Internet, ease of travel and poverty. These sexual offenders come from all socio-economic backgrounds and may hold positions of trust. Previous arrests for child sex tourism involving U.S. citizens have included: a pediatrician, a retired Army sergeant, a dentist, a Peace Corps volunteer and a university professor.

In 2003, the United States strengthened its ability to fight child sex tourism by passing the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act (PROTECT Act) and the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Reauthorization Act. These laws carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison for engaging in child sex tourism. In the nine years since these laws were strengthened, HSI special agents have arrested 93 suspects on child sex tourism charges.

“Our message is clear to all U.S. citizens: We take these crimes seriously,” said Peter Vincent, director of HSI’s Office of International Affairs. “If you dare abuse a child abroad, we will find you, send you back to the United States and prosecute you for your crimes. You might be out of the country, but you are not out of reach of U.S. law enforcement.”

HSI has 73 offices in 47 foreign countries around the world that serve as the agency’s liaison to counterparts in local government and law enforcement. HSI’s attachés abroad are critical in investigating these crimes.

Recently, Jesse Osmun, 33, a former Peace Corps volunteer, was sentenced in Hartford, Conn., to 15 years in prison for sexually abusing four girls, all under the age of 6, while he was a volunteer in South Africa. He never expected that HSI special agents would arrest him for crimes he committed nearly 8,000 miles away from his Connecticut home. HSI’s office in Connecticut– working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut – has had two other recent cases involving child sex tourism. Edgardo Sensi was sentenced in January to 85 years in prison for production of child pornography and sexual tourism offenses related to his sexual abuse of minor girls in the United States and Nicaragua. Douglas Perlitz was sentenced in December 2010 to nearly 20 years in prison for sexually abusing 16 minor victims over the course of a decade in Haiti.

“I am proud to partner with HSI in prosecutingU.S.citizens who abuse children abroad,” said U.S. Attorney David B. Fein, District of Connecticut. “I am hopeful that the cases we have successfully prosecuted in Connecticut will serve as a deterrent to others who would partake in these illegal acts. The Department of Justice will continue to devote resources to protecting children worldwide.”

HSI’s Child Exploitation Investigations Unit investigates the trans-border, large-scale production and distribution of images of child abuse, as well as individuals who travel abroad to engage in sex with minors. The unit employs the latest technology to collect evidence and track the activities of individuals and organized groups who sexually exploit children through the use of websites, chat rooms, newsgroups and peer-to-peer trading. These investigative activities are organized under Operation Predator, a program managed by the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit.

“If you are molesting children, I advise you to turn yourself in and get help,” added Vincent. “The law will catch up to you no matter where you are. If you continue your crimes against children, you should always be looking over your shoulder because we will hunt you down to the ends of the earth in order to protect innocent children from being violated. There will be no refuge for child sexual predators who believe that they may victimize children outside the United States. No place is too distant or too remote to escape the attention of HSI.”

M.C. Law Group Opens Office in Stamford, CT

M.C. Law Group has opened a new branch in Stamford, Connecticut. The full-service law firm is experienced in all areas of U.S. immigration and nationality law. In addition, the firm also handles cases in a wide variety of legal matters including family law and divorce cases, criminal matters, tax preparation and tax resolution, and business law cases.

 The Stamford branch, located at 39 Clovelly Road, is the third branch for this growing law firm. Two additional branches are located in Waterbury and Hartford, and the firm is based in Bridgeport.

 Follow the link below to learn more about the new branch, M.C. Law Group, and its legal services.

Stamford Immigration Lawyer in Connecticut

Connecticut Secure Communities Arrests Mexican National for Illegal Reentry

A Mexican national, who was encountered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Secure Communities program, was sentenced Thursday, September 6, 2012, to time served for illegally reentering theUnited Statesafter deportation. He pleaded guilty to the charge Aug. 20. This case was investigated by ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Jose Angel Lopez-Garcia, 27, first entered the United States in April 1999 and voluntarily returned to Mexico. He reentered the country several times between 1999 and 2010. After illegally reentering in 2010, he was ordered deported by an immigration judge with the Executive Office for Immigration Review, and removed Sept. 24, 2010. On an unknown date after Sept. 24, 2010, Lopez-Garcia illegally reentered the United States once again. On June 10, 2012, Lopez-Garcia was arrested by the Stamford (Conn.) Police Department for various driving-related offenses.

Secure Communities

Secure Communities is a simple and common sense way to carry out ICE’s priorities. It uses an already-existing federal information-sharing partnership between ICE and the FBI that helps to identify illegal aliens without imposing new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement. For decades, local jurisdictions have shared the fingerprints of individuals who are arrested or booked into custody with the FBI to see if they have a criminal record. Under Secure Communities, which is activated statewide in Connecticut, the FBI automatically sends the fingerprints to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to check against its immigration databases.

If these checks reveal that an individual is unlawfully present in the United States or otherwise removable, ICE takes enforcement action – prioritizing the removal of individuals who present the most significant threats to public safety as determined by the severity of their crime, their criminal history, and other factors – as well as those who have repeatedly violated immigration laws. Lopez-Garcia is a priority for ICE since he is an egregious immigration law violator that has been previously removed from the United States on 10 separate occasions. He is also now a convicted criminal alien, another priority for ICE.

Because Lopez-Garcia had been previously encountered and fingerprinted by immigration officials, there is a digitized record. Once his fingerprints were run after his most recent arrest in Connecticut, Secure Communities registered a “match,” and ICE was notified that Lopez-Garcia was back in the country illegally. He had been detained by federal authorities since that arrest, and will now be deported back to Mexico by ICE, making this his 11th removal.

“As this case shows, there will be consequences for those who show no respect for our laws or our borders,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director for ERO Boston. Herrera-Niles oversees ERO throughout New England. “By using tools like Secure Communities, ICE is locating and deporting more criminal aliens and egregious immigration law violators than ever before, and our communities are safer as a result.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarala V. Nagala, District of Connecticut.

Guatemalan National Sentenced ion Connecticut for Illegal Reentry

A Guatemalan national who last resided in Stamford, Conn., was sentenced on March 28 to 24 months in federal prison for illegally re-entering the United States after deportation.
This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
(ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Jorge Roberto Rodriguez Lopez, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L.
Bryant. He will begin serving the sentence upon his completion of a 54-month state sentence that he is currently serving.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Lopez entered the United States illegally in 1998. In March 2004, Lopez was deported to his native Guatemala
following a 2003 conviction in Connecticut Superior Court of sexual assault in the second degree of a victim 13 to 15 years of age and illegal sexual contact.

In August 2005, Lopez was convicted in U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico, of illegal re-entry after deportation. He was again deported in July 2006.

On January 3, 2011, Lopez was apprehended in Stamford and subsequently convicted in Connecticut Superior Court of failure to register as a sex offender, forgery in the second degree and disorderly conduct. On April 4, 2011, Lopez was convicted of the charges and sentenced to 54 months of imprisonment. On January 6, 2012, Lopez pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to illegal re-entry after deportation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn A. Ikari, District of
Connecticut.

Brazilian Murder Suspect Arrested in Connecticut; Turned Over to Brazilian Authorities

A Brazilian national residing in Bridgeport, who was wanted in his home country for his involvement in a double homicide, was turned over to Brazilian law enforcement authorities the morning of Thursday, March 22, in Rio De Janeiro.
He was removed from the United States by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). This individual was originally identified after ERO obtained a law enforcement tip from the Bridgeport Police Department.

Isaias Goncalves Dos Santos, 31, was arrested by ERO officers in Bridgeport Jan. 31, 2012. He remained in ERO custody until his removal today.

The Bridgeport Police Department had notified ERO that they suspected Dos Santos, who had an Interpol Red Notice out for his arrest, was residing in Bridgeport. According to
the Interpol Red Notice, Dos Santos allegedly devised a plan that executed the mayor of São Sebastião do Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Mayor Gomes Gildeci Sampaio, and his friend, were both killed in the kitchen of the mayor’s home Oct. 13, 2009. Interpol and ICE Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) assistant attaché in Brasilia, Brazil, confirmed the biographical details and photographic facial identifiers with Brazilian authorities, which confirmed that Dos Santos was indeed wanted by their government.

An Interpol Red Notice is used to alert law enforcement agencies in member countries that arrest warrants have been issued and extradition will be sought for the fugitives. Being the subject of this type of notice is not a presumption of guilt. Interpol is the world’s largest international police organization with 190 member countries. It serves as a facilitator of
international police cooperation.

“Thanks to our excellent partnership with the Bridgeport Police Department, we have
ensured that this individual will be prosecuted for his alleged crimes in Brazil,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director for ERO Boston. Herrera-Niles oversees ERO throughout New England. “His arrest and removal should serve as a reminder to foreign fugitives who mistakenly believe they can elude justice by fleeing to this country. ICE will
continue to work closely with its foreign law enforcement counterparts not only to ensure that criminals are held accountable for their actions, but to safeguard the rights of law-abiding citizens here and overseas.”

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 335 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including
kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with HSI’s Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.

Attorney Alex Meyerovich Speaks Out Against ICE Secure Communities Program

By: Mallory Huron

Bridgeport,CT– Local attorney Alex Meyerovich spoke out recently against the federal Secure Communities program, which went into effect statewide in Connecticut on February 22.

Secure Communities, launched in 2008, is a federal program that combines the resources of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and local law enforcement.

Through the program, any set of fingerprints taken by local law enforcement will automatically be sent first to the FBI for a criminal background check, and next to the ICE database for an immigration status check. If there is a match to a criminal record, and/or ICE records show that the individual is in the U.S. illegally, or “otherwise removable,” the individual will be detained and subject to deportation proceedings.

As of October 2011, the program cites over 110,000 removals of immigrants convicted of crimes, which includes 39,500 removals of immigrants convicted of aggravated felony offenses such as murder, rape, and child sex abuse. The program is set to be in effect nationwide by 2013.

However, although the program is designed to target immigrants convicted of serious and often violent crimes, some claim that it will have possible detrimental side effects.

M.C. Law Group immigration attorney Alex Meyerovich, who opposes the program, discussed the potential pitfalls of Secure Communities on Wednesday, February 22, when the program went into effect across Connecticut.

“For many people, it’s a challenge,” Meyerovich said of the program’s consequences on Wednesday. The program is already proving challenging – and controversial – with many arguing that it could have the problematic consequence of effectively turning local law enforcement into ICE immigration officers.

Secure Communities insists that local law enforcement officers are not given any additional responsibilities under the program, nor are they instructed or authorized to enforce federal immigration law. However, concerns about possible misuse of power linger, as well concerns over the larger impact for local communities.

“This program will probably do more damage to the communities than good,” said Meyerovich. “It creates a disincentive for immigrants to call the police, ever.”

This disincentive, Meyerovich argues, could pose a serious threat to community safety. Immigrants may begin to fear any interaction with local law enforcement, and may avoid reporting anything from car accidents to domestic violence disputes for fear of potential deportation. He maintains that if any resident, whether they reside in the U.S. legally or illegally, is dissuaded from alerting the police about matters of public and personal safety, then Secure Communities will actually be creating insecure and unsafe communities.

Watch the full News12 Connecticut interview with Attorney Meyerovich below.

ICE Investigates Teen Prostitution Ring

The U.S. attorney for the district of Connecticut, David B. Fein, acknowledged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for its relentless investigation of a Connecticut man who pleaded guilty on October 25, 2011 to one count of transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.


The guilty plea by Theodore Briggs, also known as “PeeJaye,” 23, of Norwalk, Connecticut, was announced by Fein, who credited HSI and the Norwalk Police Department with bringing Briggs to justice.


“The U.S. attorney’s office is committed to prosecuting sex trafficking crimes that involve the victimization of minors,” stated U.S. Attorney Fein. “I want to commend ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the Norwalk Police Department for their vigilance in investigating this heinous criminal activity.”


“We view this acknowledgement as a testament to our unwavering commitment to investigate these crimes cooperatively with local law enforcement to develop the strongest evidence possible to successfully prosecute these cases,” said Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of HSI in New England. “Our efforts to identify, investigate and prosecute child predators remain relentless.”


According to court records, Briggs and others were involved in a prostitution business. In pleading guilty, Briggs admitted that, in November and December 2010, he knowingly prostituted a minor female victim. At the time, the girl was 14 years old. Briggs and others transported the girl from Connecticut to New York and Atlantic City, N.J., to engage in prostitution. As part of his prostitution enterprise, Briggs posted photographs of the young victim on a website known as Backpage.com. Briggs kept most, if not all of the proceeds that the victim earned for engaging in sex acts with men.


Briggs is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall on Jan.13, 2012. He faces a mandatory minimum 10-year prison term and a maximum term of imprisonment for life.


Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alina P. Reynolds and Krishna R. Patel prosecuted this case which was heard by U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport.

Man Facing Up to 30 Years in Jail for Fake Green Card

A federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned an indictment yesterday charging a Connecticut man with one count of re-entry in a case investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Roberto A. Mori-Perez, 55, a citizen of Peru who recently resided in New Haven, is also charged with one count of possession of a fraudulent permanent resident card in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport.

The indictment alleges that Mori-Perez, who was previously deported from the U.S. to his native Peru, illegally re-entered the U.S. According to legal records, he did not obtain the consent of the U.S. attorney general or his successor, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to reapply for admission into the U.S.

The indictment also alleges that on Aug.17, 2011, Mori-Perez possessed a fraudulent permanent resident card. According to previously filed court documents, he was deported from the U.S. to Peru on Aug. 29, 1989, after he was convicted of the criminal sale of a controlled substance, which is an aggravated felony.

If convicted, Mori-Perez faces a maximum 20-year prison term for illegally re-entering the U.S. and a maximum 10-year prison term for possessing a fraudulent permanent resident card.

Mori-Perez has been detained since his arrest on August 17, 2011.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David B. Fein stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt, that charges are only allegations, and that each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation of this case included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) National Fugitive Operations Program. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj Patel.