Agency: Guatemalan man deported on July 18
A Beacon resident arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in June has been removed from the country, the agency said on Thursday (Aug. 7).
ICE officers detained Santos Belarmino Perez Suchite on June 20 for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act, an agency spokesperson said.
Perez, who lived on North Elm Street, is a Guatemalan national who “admitted he entered the United States by crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2024,” said Marie Ferguson, the ICE representative. “Not only did this alien blatantly disregard our nation’s immigration laws, but he also jeopardized community and officer safety by attempting to flee on foot, leading officials on a brief chase before his capture.”
ICE removed Perez from the U.S. on July 18, Ferguson said, without specifying where he was sent.
Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou announced on June 20 that ICE agents had made an arrest in Beacon after his office was informed by residents about their presence. While city officials stated they were unaware of who ICE had detained or the nature of any charges, Police Chief Tom Figlia confirmed with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that an enforcement operation had taken place.
“I want to make clear that at no time leading up to this incident did city staff, including our Police Department, have any notice of or involvement in ICE operations,” Kyriacou said at the time. “As a city, we remain committed to our safe, inclusive community policy, to preserving rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and to avoiding any policies which engender fear among law-abiding families.”
Figlia said the following week that ICE returned on June 21, but he did not know if anyone was detained. ICE did not respond at the time to a request from The Current for information. The agency responded to a second request this week but only released information about Perez.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem is reversing former President Biden’s catch-and-release policy that allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be let loose on American streets,” Ferguson said. “It comes down to one question: Is this person violating our nation’s immigration laws? If the answer is yes, we’re going to remove them.”
A Beacon resident wrote in a comment after The Current’s June 20 story that he saw the ICE officers on North Elm Street. “ICE, the FBI and what appeared to be one police officer (not from the City of Beacon) staked out the house, parked at different locations along the street around 6 a.m., presumably to apprehend him on his morning commute,” he wrote. “I believe the kid they took is one of our local bakers. We talk often. We say hello daily.” The federal agents were armed and wearing body armor, he wrote.
