Colombian convicted of murder released in US due to lack of space

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct agency that released Vargas from custody.

(NewsNation) — A Colombian national convicted of murder in his home country was arrested in Boston after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released him from holding due to a “national bed space shortage caused by Southwest border surge.”

Efrain Vidales Vargas, 49, entered the U.S. illegally through the Yuma Sector in November 2023. He was apprehended by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and eventually turned over to ICE, according to internal documents reviewed by NewsNation.

“The fact that our U.S. government would release somebody into our country, into our community that was suspected, if not known, but even suspected, of homicide is beyond me,” said Chris Clem, a retired Border Patrol chief for the Yuma Sector. “If there is not a greater betrayal to the American people, I don’t know what is.”

Sources say information about Vargas’ conviction, as well as his extensive criminal history, was relayed to ICE. Documents show an ICE officer noted Vargas had a murder conviction in Colombia on Dec. 11 and that he had admitted to criminal acts dating back to his early childhood. Two days later, he was released with a notice to appear.

ICE was flagged about an Interpol notice for Vargas by a liaison in Colombia, leading to his arrest by Boston deportation officers on May 6.

“I cannot fathom for a million years why ICE would release somebody that had a warrant, or was a suspect, or anything in a heinous crime like a murder,” Clem said.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations employs a staff of around 4,000 deportation officers who manage a national non-detained docket of more than 7 million noncitizens – a number that increases every day,” an ICE spokesperson said in an email to NewsNation following the publication of this story. “Efrain Vidales Vargas, an unlawfully present Colombian national who is wanted by Colombian authorities for a Homicide conviction, unlawfully entered the U.S. in November 2023 was erroneously released from ICE custody.”

At the time of Vargas’ initial detainment in the Yuma Sector, the neighboring Tucson Sector was overflowing, and migrants were being bussed over to the Yuma Sector for processing. Sources tell NewsNation that this caused Yuma to also become overwhelmed with migrants and led to the lack of bed space.

According to his records, Vargas has not committed any crimes in the U.S. over the past six months. Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security says he will remain in custody while his removal proceedings play out.