ATLANTA – A Fugitive Operations Team assigned to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Atlanta field office arrested an at-large fugitive criminal alien Friday who is presently number six on the Illinois Department of Corrections Wanted Fugitives list due to his 2003 escape from an Illinois prison.

Jorge Soberanis-Rumaldo, an unlawfully present Mexican national, was arrested by ICE deportation officers Friday morning at his Atlanta residence during a targeted enforcement operation in concert with the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Mr. Soberanis was convicted on a felony cocaine charge in Cook County, Illinois, in March 2003 and sentenced to eight years in state prison. He subsequently escaped from Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, in June 2003 while on a work detail.

"ICE is focused on identifying, arresting and removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws," said ERO Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher. “ICE Fugitive Operations Teams conduct targeted enforcement operations toward these identified threats to public safety. The Atlanta area is safer today thanks to the professionalism and hard work of these dedicated officers.”

Mr. Soberanis was booked into the Dekalb County Jail Friday where he remains in custody. He is presently awaiting extradition to Illinois to face additional criminal charges pertaining to his escape.

ICE has lodged an immigration detainer against Mr. Soberanis and will seek to remove him from the United States following the resolution of any criminal charges he may face.

Members of the public who have information about foreign fugitives are urged to contact ICE by calling the ICE tip line at 1 (866) 347-2423 or internationally at 001-1802-872-6199. They can also file a tip online by completing ICE’s online tip form.

In Fiscal Year 2016, ICE removed or returned 240,255 individuals. Of this total, 174,923 were apprehended while, or shortly after, attempting to illegally enter the United States. The remaining 65,332 were apprehended in the interior of the United States, and the vast majority were convicted criminals. 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.