Bahamian national illegally present in U.S. for 15 years finally removed to face murder charges in homeland
A citizen of the Bahamas who was illegally present in the United States for 15 years has been deported to face murder charges in his homeland.
On Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the removal of Stanford Jahmaal Omar Bastian to the Caribbean island nation after he served time for trafficking narcotics in the U.S.
Bastian was admitted to the U.S. on a 6-month temporary visa in 2009 but remained in the country beyond that date without authorization.
On March 9, 2021, he was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine and sentenced to 50 months in prison.
On July 5, 2022, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Bastian after Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents from the Atlanta office encountered him at Federal Correctional Facility McRae in Helena, Georgia.
“In August, he was served with a final administrative removal order charging removability pursuant to Section 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” ICE explained in a press release.
“ERO Philadelphia detained Bastian at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Phillipsburg during removal proceedings.”
In January of this year, officials learned Bastian was wanted for murder by authorities in the Bahamas.
It is unclear how long he had been a fugitive from those charges or when the alleged murder took place.
Bastian was removed from the U.S. on March 26.
Authorities continue to catch dangerous foreign criminals illegally present in the U.S.
VIDEO: Trump Flag Cut Down and Banned From College Baseball Game
