Child Sex Offender Arrested and Returned to Mexico

A Mexican national convicted of sex crimes against children was returned to his home country March 7 by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

Dionisio Anaya-Velarde, 44, was arrested March 6 by ERO officers in Albuquerque, N.M.

ERO officers encountered Anaya-Velarde March 30, 2010, at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. He had been arrested and later convicted of two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor in the third degree (child under 13) and criminal sexual penetration, both aggravated felonies.

While he was in prison, ERO officers placed an immigration detainer on him to ensure that if he were released from local custody for any reason, he'd be released to ERO.

Following his latest conviction, Anaya-Velarde was sentenced to 21 years in prison. However, 19 years of his sentence was suspended. He was released March 6, 2012, and transferred to ERO custody for deportation.

Anaya-Velarde was previously removed from the United States in June 1989 through Arizona. He re-entered the United States without inspection on or about May 2003 near Columbus, N.M. Anyone who re-enters the United States after being deported commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

"The cooperation by local jails and prisons allows ERO officers to identify criminal aliens and begin the process of removing them from the United States while they serve time for their crimes," said Adrian P. Macias, field office director for ERO El Paso. "These partnerships with local law enforcement agencies allow ERO to do its share to make our communities safer."

ICE's Criminal Alien Program identifies, processes and removes criminal aliens incarcerated in federal, state and local prisons and jails throughout the United States, preventing their release into local communities by securing final orders of removal before they complete their prison sentences.