CHARLOTTE – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) removed an illegally present Mexican man from the United States Thursday following his release from prison in North Carolina for causing the death of a pedestrian in a parking lot in Iredell County in 2014.

Bonifacio Cano Perez, 43, an illegally present Mexican national, entered ICE custody Aug. 22. He was subsequently ordered removed from the United States by a federal immigration judge Oct. 3, after receiving appropriate legal process before the federal immigration courts.

Mr. Perez was initially encountered by ICE following his conviction Jan. 20, 2014, for felony involuntary manslaughter in Iredell County. According to court documents, Perez was driving in the parking lot of a Lowe’s Home Improvement store when he struck and killed a 72-year-old man.

"ICE is focused on identifying, arresting and removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws," said ERO Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher. “Our communities are safer for all persons when foreign nationals who pose a threat to public safety are removed from the streets.”

ICE is focused on removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws, including those who illegally re-entered the country after being removed and immigration fugitives ordered removed by federal immigration judges.

Since January, ICE arrests comprise over 70 percent convicted criminals. Of the remaining individuals not convicted of a crime, approximately 70 percent have either been charged with a crime, are an immigration fugitive, or have been removed from the United States and illegally re-entered – reflecting the agency’s continued prioritization of its limited enforcement resources on aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.