ICE Captures Illegal Immigrant With Rape Conviction In Charles County

Deportation officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Henry Argueta-Tobar this week in Waldorf, authorities announced on Thursday.

According to ICE, US Border Patrol apprehended Argueta-Tobar in May 2019 near El Paso as an unaccompanied minor, where he was issued a notice to appear before a DOJ immigration judge.

Two days after being taken into custody, Argueta-Tobar was transferred to El Paso, and ERO El Paso released him.

Argueta-Tobar was later arrested by members of the Charles County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 22, 2023, where he was charged with second-degree rape.

ERO Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer against Argueta Dec. 27, 2023, with the Charles County Detention Center in La Plata, though they refused to honor it and Argueta-Tobar was again released at an unknown date.

In February, a DOJ immigration judge in Baltimore ordered that Argueta-Tobar be returned to Guatemala, and in July, a court convicted him of rape, sentencing him to 20 years in prison.

That sentence was later suspended to all but 190 days.

Deportation officers from ERO Baltimore’s Fugitive Operations Team arrested Argueta-Tobar in Waldorf. He remains in ERO custody.

“After unlawfully entering our country, Henry Argueta-Tobar made his way to Maryland and victimized one of our residents,” ERO Baltimore acting Deputy Field Office Director Vernon Liggins said.

“We could not allow him to continue to threaten our communities. ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by relentlessly pursuing unlawfully present sexual predators and egregious criminal noncitizens.”

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