U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed a 29-year-old Salvadoran national from the United States on Jan. 30 following his conviction for second-degree rape and second-degree assault in Frederick County, Maryland.
According to ICE Baltimore, Ruben Alonso Hernandez-Lainez was removed with assistance from the Frederick County Adult Detention Center through a 287(g) partnership. The program allows designated local law enforcement agencies to perform certain immigration enforcement functions in cooperation with ICE.
ICE said Hernandez-Lainez illegally entered the United States in 2021 at an unknown location. In May 2022, U.S. Border Patrol encountered him near Hidalgo, Texas, and released him into the country. On May 15, 2023, the Frederick Police Department arrested him on charges of rape and assault.
In February 2025, a judge convicted Hernandez-Lainez and sentenced him to three years and four months in prison, suspending all but 18 months of the sentence. The court also imposed five years of supervised probation, according to ICE.
An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on Jan. 20, 2026. ICE removed Hernandez-Lainez from the United States 10 days later.
“ICE could only arrest and remove this criminal illegal alien thanks to our 287(g) partnership with Frederick County,” ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall said. “It’s profoundly disappointing that since then, the Maryland legislature is trying to undermine this critical law enforcement relationship between state and local police and ICE.”
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins said the partnership enabled authorities to transfer Hernandez-Lainez directly from local custody to federal immigration officials.
“The Frederick County Sheriff’s Office 287(g) partnership in the adult detention center has once again kept a convicted rapist and violent criminal from being released back into the community,” Jenkins said. “This demonstrates the real public safety value of the 287(g) program.”
ICE officials said the Hernandez-Lainez case was processed under the existing partnership agreement.
