Colombian man now in ICE custody for sexual assault

Rigberto Hoyos-Alban (Courtesy: ERO Boston)

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) — A Colombian man accused of sexually abusing a severely mentally disabled person faces deportation, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Rigberto Hoyos-Alban, 33, was taken into custody by ICE agents in Cranston on May 22.

According to ICE, Hoyos-Alban was first detained by U.S. Border Patrol in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley last November after entering the country illegally without a checkpoint. However, an immigration judge later released him on parole.

In March, he was arrested again in Central Falls and charged with two counts of first-degree sexual assault, two counts of second-degree sexual assault and aggravated assault on a mentally retarded person.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) issued an arrest warrant for Hoyos-Alban while he was in custody at ACI. However, according to ICE, that warrant was not followed and Hoyos-Alban was released.

“This is not the kind of person we want walking the streets of our New England neighborhoods,” said Todd Lyons, director of ERO Boston.

Hoyos-Alban remains in ICE custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.

This comes as Rhode Island’s ICE cooperation policy is under scrutiny. ICE agents arrested three men from Guatemala earlier this year on child abuse charges after entering the country illegally without a checkpoint. The men were released on bail despite being wanted by immigration authorities.

ICE agents also recently arrested a Honduran murder suspect in Warwick after learning he had been charged with aggravated assault and was out on bail, and arrested a Nigerian man convicted of sexually assaulting a child.

RI Attorney General Peter Neronha and ICE have repeatedly expressed concern about the state’s detention policies toward immigrants.

Meanwhile, Governor Dan McKee’s office has stressed that the state is complying with a 2014 ruling by Rhode Island U.S. District Judge John McConnell that said the state cannot detain someone based solely on an ICE warrant.