ICE arrests former Salvadoran military officer in California operation

ICE has arrested and deported a former El Salvadoran military intelligence officer who was living in secret in California despite his wicked past.

Agents arrested Jaime Avalos-Jimenez, 67, of El Salvador, during a targeted operation in San Francisco’s Livermore neighborhood last month, the California Post can reveal.

Avalos-Jimenez came to the US illegally in 1989 after serving in the Salvadoran Army from 1977 to 1988 as a military intelligence officer for Destacamento Militar No. 7.

The military unit is accused of human rights abuses, including “extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual assault, disappearances, bombings, search and seizure, and detention-related abuse,” officials said.

He is also accused of assisting in abuses of detainees assumed to be with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a former left-wing guerrilla organization turned political party.

Officials said he participated in Operation Fenix, in which the military carried out indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations as potential sources of support for guerrilla combatants during the Salvadoran civil war.

Avalos-Jimenez came to the U.S. after the abuses and filed for relief and benefits. The government denied his applications, and the Department of Homeland Security said he lied on applications regarding his military service and potential human rights abuses he contributed to.

ICE officials arrested him on Sept. 4, and he was deported back to El Salvador on Sept. 18 after a court denied his petition for review.

“ICE remains committed to identifying and removing individuals who have participated in human rights abuses and who have no legal basis to remain in the United States,” ICE San Francisco Field Office Director Sergio Albarran told The Post.

“The United States will not be a safe haven for human rights violators.” 

Officials said Avalos-Jimenez had no known criminal arrests in the U.S.

California is a sanctuary state of particular interest to ICE. The agency is launching “Operation Safe California,” a 45-day plan of increased immigration operations in the Golden State.

State officials like Gov. Gavin Newsom have harshly condemned the reported operation, accusing President Donald Trump of “using fear and panic as a weapon.”

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters