Wilder Mario Romero Perez, 22, of Guatemala lived in the United States as a fugitive. He entered the U.S. without inspection on an unknown date and at unknown location. 

Romero was wanted for murder in Guatemala. No other details about the alleged crime were made public.

On October 5, 2022, Romero Perez was arrested in Wilmington, California, USA by fugitive operations officers from the field office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Los Angeles, California. This was after the ERO team received a lead referral identifying him as the subject.

“Those seeking to hide in the U.S. for crimes committed in their home country will be aggressively pursued by ERO and returned to face justice,” ERO Field Office director Thomas Giles stated. On October 17, 2022, an immigration judge with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review issued a final order of removal for Romero.

On November 9, 2022, Romero was flown from Los Angeles to Guatemala on a flight coordinated by ICE’s Air Operations Unit. He was turned over to Guatemalan officials as soon as he arrived in his home country.

Formed on March 1, 2003, the ICE aims to protect the U.S. from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety. The agency is under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

On January 13, 2021, Tae D. Johnson became the acting director of the ICE. Prior to this, he  served as deputy executive associate director for ERO.