ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant charged in brutal killing of New York taxi driver

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged the detainer for Santos Paulino Vasquez-Ramirez, an illegal migrant from Guatemala accused of brutally murdering a cab operator during a fare dispute Dec. 1 in Brewster, New York.

The body of the victim, Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez, was found floating in a local reservoir Dec. 7, according to DHS.

"Santos Vasquez Ramirez should've never been in our country in the first place and provided the opportunity to gruesomely take the life of Aurelio Zhunio-Orbez," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

Vasquez-Ramirez illegally entered the country in 2013, DHS said, and was later released into the country under the Obama administration.

An estimated 1.9 million migrants have been self-deported, and more than 622,000 have been forced out since Trump took office Jan. 20, according to DHS.

DHS did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.