An ICE arrest detainer is a written request that ICE sends to a jail, prison, or other law‑enforcement agency when it believes a person in that agency’s custody is deportable. The detainer asks the agency to: (1) notify ICE before the person would normally be released, and (2) keep holding the person for up to 48 extra hours (excluding weekends and holidays) so ICE can come take custody for immigration arrest and possible removal. Under federal regulations, detainers are issued on Form I‑247 and are formally requests, not criminal warrants; whether to honor them depends on the policies and laws governing the local agency that receives them.
The homicide and robbery case is being investigated by the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigations, with prosecution handled in New York state court by the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office. Santos Vasquez‑Ramirez has been charged with second‑degree murder and first‑degree robbery and was/was to be arraigned in the Town of Southeast Court, which conducts the initial felony appearance. After arraignment, the usual next steps in a New York felony case are for the district attorney to bring the case to a Putnam County grand jury for possible indictment; if indicted, the case is then transferred to a higher trial court (County Court/Supreme Court) for further hearings, pre‑trial motions, and trial or plea. As of the latest public reporting, no detailed future court schedule has been released.
According to DHS and ICE, the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office: • Operates a toll‑free hotline (1‑855‑488‑6423) for victims and families affected by crimes with an immigration nexus. • Explains how the immigration enforcement and removal process works and what information about the offender’s immigration case can be shared. • Helps victims register for the DHS‑VINE notification system so they receive automated updates when a criminal non‑citizen in ICE custody is moved, released, or removed. • Provides referrals to social‑service professionals and local victim‑assistance resources. • When allowed by law, shares additional criminal or immigration history about the offender and explains opportunities to submit victim‑impact statements.
On confidentiality: ICE states that callers must attest they are victims (or acting for a victim) and that registration with VOICE can be done anonymously. Information VOICE can disclose about offenders is limited by privacy laws and ICE policy, so not all case details can be shared. However, VOICE does not offer attorney‑client‑type confidentiality; information provided by victims is kept within DHS/ICE systems for victim‑services and law‑enforcement purposes, even if the victim’s identity is not made public.
Legally, a “final order of removal” is the government’s binding decision that a non‑citizen must be deported from the United States. Under 8 C.F.R. § 1241.1, an order becomes final when, for example, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismisses an appeal, or the person waives or misses the deadline to appeal.
Once the order is final, immigration law directs ICE to remove the person during a 90‑day “removal period,” during which detention is generally mandatory. After that, ICE may keep holding the person or release them under supervision. The Supreme Court’s decision in Zadvydas v. Davis limits prolonged post‑order detention: detention is usually considered presumptively reasonable only for about six months after the order, unless removal is realistically foreseeable.
People with final removal orders are often released into the U.S. (typically on an “order of supervision”) when, for example, their home country will not issue travel documents or accept them promptly, ICE cannot practically arrange removal soon or lacks detention space, a court has issued a stay of removal or there are pending legal motions, or ICE grants release for humanitarian or discretionary reasons. Those released are usually required to check in with ICE and follow supervision conditions while the removal order remains in effect.
Tricia McLaughlin is the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She leads DHS’s Office of Public Affairs, overseeing the department’s media, digital, strategic, and crisis communications, and serves as the principal adviser to the Secretary of Homeland Security on external and internal communications.
Available official statements give only a partial public timeline of Santos Paulino Vasquez‑Ramirez’s contacts with authorities: • DHS reports that he entered the United States illegally in October 2013 and was released into the country by federal authorities at that time. • DHS further states that an immigration judge issued him a final order of removal on January 22, 2016. • Local law enforcement records show that on December 12, 2025, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office arrested him in Pawling, New York, and charged him with second‑degree murder and first‑degree robbery in connection with the killing of taxi driver Aurelio Zhunio‑Orbez; he was then arraigned in the Town of Southeast Court. DHS subsequently announced that ICE lodged an immigration detainer on him.
Beyond these points, DHS and local officials have not released a detailed public chronology of any additional immigration or criminal‑justice encounters between his 2013 entry and the 2025 homicide charges, so any other interactions during that period are not publicly documented.