A FILIPINO man who admitted to conducting surveillance for a law enforcement task force in the Philippines linked to the disappearance of a number of opposition politicians was deported to the Philippines last week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a news release from the agency.
Regor Cadag Aguilar, 42, was escorted by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and arrived in Manila mid-day Wednesday, Feb. 10, Pacific Standard Time. His repatriation follows his arrest on Jan. 5, 2015 in Union City in Northern California.
Aguilar originally entered the United States on a visitor’s visa 15 years ago and overstayed, which led him to be placed in removal proceedings.
He admitted that from 1998 to 2001, he served as a surveillance agent for a law enforcement task force in the Philippines that targeted rival political figures, according to the ICE news release. He claimed he was unaware of the task force’s illegal activities in that time period, but testified that one of his surveillance targets disappeared and was assumed dead.
Aguilar further testified that his superiors told him members of the task force depended on his surveillance to abduct and murder a political figure, and that he heard superiors instruct task force members to torture abducted individuals, according to the agency’s release.
“This day has been in the making for more than a decade, but it should leave no question about ICE’s resolve to hold human rights violators accountable for their actions,” ICE Deputy Director Daniel Ragsdale said in a release. “The successful outcome of this case is owing to the outstanding work by ICE attorneys and ERO officers who were determined to see justice served. We simply won’t stand by and allow the U.S. to serve as a safe haven for those whose actions have caused incalculable harm to others.”
Aguilar was ordered to be removed in 2010 by a San Francisco judge, after the exhaustion of all his appeals.
Since fiscal year 2004, the ICE has arrested more than 360 individuals for human rights-related violations under various criminal and/or immigration statutes, according to the agency’s news release.
