Migrant accused of sex crimes against child arrested after detainer request ignored, ICE says

A Guatemalan man illegally living in the United States was arrested by immigration authorities last month on suspicion of sexually assaulting a child in Rhode Island after he was released from local custody.

Felix Meletz Guarcas, 45, was released from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections despite an immigration detainer request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold him until federal authorities could take him into custody, ICE said. 

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A detainer requests that local authorities notify immigration agents when an illegal migrant suspect is due to be released, so federal authorities can take the person into custody to initiate deportation proceedings. 

“We use immigration detainers as public safety tools,” Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement. “We asked the Rhode Island Department of Corrections to hold Meletz Guarcas so we could take him into custody in their facility, but he was released to home confinement.”

“Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections doesn’t turn over home confinement releases, so a team of our officers were forced to arrest him in a public parking lot in Cranston, rather than a controlled environment in a custodial setting,” he added. 

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An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen July 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. U.S.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

It’s not known when Meletz Guarcas illegally entered the U.S., ICE said. 

On Feb. 16, 2022, he was arrested by the Pawtucket Police Department in Rhode Island for misdemeanor disorderly conduct and felony assault of police officers and other officials. He was convicted and sentenced to six months of probation.

On Nov. 20, Meletz Guarcas was arrested again and charged with first-degree sexual assault on a child and five counts of second-degree sexual assault on a child, ICE said. 

The incident occurred on Sept. 3, authorities said.

A law enforcement officer walks past an ICE logo ahead of a press conference on Thursday, May 11, 2017, at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, DC.. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Meletz Guarcas remains in ICE custody and the charges against him are pending.