Latest news with #Soriano-Neto
Boston Globe
03-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Providence teen detained by ICE since March scheduled to have asylum hearing in September
Related : An online portal shows the 'individual hearing' is now set for Sept. 18 in Colorado. Advertisement 'I'm going to take it for what it's worth because I'm going to hope that the criminal case gets resolved before then, and maybe we would have a different form of relief to ask for in the immigration court,' her immigration attorney, Cindy Salazar Tohme, said in an interview. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up A Honduran national, Soriano-Neto was arrested in February by Providence police on charges of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor, Rhode Island court records show. She was charged after she was blamed, without proof, by at least one of her friends, who were allegedly having sex with men for money, Soriano-Neto was a student at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence at the time of her arrest, according to Salazar Tohme. A district spokesperson confirmed last month she is no longer enrolled. Related : Advertisement 'She's feeling the pressures of being detained for such a long time,' Salazar Tohme said on Tuesday. 'And now she's so far away from her friends, her teachers, her close confidants at church that she is feeling the anxiety of being away from the things that she's known for the past seven years.' Soriano-Neto unlawfully entered the United States in 2017, according to ICE, when she was about 10 years old. According to Salazar Tohme, Soriano-Neto was on a pathway to legal status when she was arrested. Her attorneys have said Soriano-Neto may never get her day in Providence County District Court for her criminal case before she is possibly deported. According to John MacDonald, her criminal defense attorney, it is typically 'very difficult to get any out-of-state client back in Rhode Island in ICE custody.' And if she fails to appear in court, a warrant can be issued, which means she will not be allowed 'to ever legally come back into the United States,' MacDonald said in May. Felony cases undergo an up-to-six-month review by the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office to determine whether prosecutors will continue a case or drop it. 'That remains to be seen, what action the Attorney General takes,' MacDonald said on Tuesday. If that process takes the full six months, prosecutors would make their decision in late August, just weeks before the hearing, according to MacDonald. Asked if that complicates the situation, MacDonald said, 'It just is what it is.' In Related : Advertisement The transfer came days after The ICE spokesperson said According to Salazar Tohme, Soriano-Neto's family has returned to Honduras. The attorney said last month they had planned to fly there so they could receive Soriano-Neto when she returns, should she be deported. In September, Salazar Tohme will represent Soriano-Neto in-person at the Colorado court, she said. With the teen's family now out of the country, Salazar Tohme is taking on the case pro bono. Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Boston Globe
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Detained Providence teen was moved to Colorado days before asylum hearing because of ‘bed space,' ICE says
Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement 'The major disadvantage here is that she had an individual hearing date that was on the calendar,' Salazar Tohme said Tuesday. 'She already had her opportunity and her time slot to fight her case. Now she's been moved and it's starting over.' In response to emailed questions from the Globe, an ICE spokesperson said on Tuesday said Soriano-Neto was moved 'for reasons of bed space management.' 'There are a finite number of beds dedicated to ICE detainees at a given facility,' the spokesperson said. A Honduran national, Soriano-Neto was arrested in February by Providence police on charges of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor, Rhode Island court records show. Advertisement She was charged after Soriano-Neto was a student at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence at the time of her arrest, according to Salazar Tohme. She is no longer enrolled, however, a district spokesperson confirmed. Now, Soriano-Neto may never get her day in Providence County District Court for her criminal case before she is possibly deported, her criminal defense attorney, John MacDonald, ICE first publicized the case through a Then, Related : MacDonald said earlier this month the timing of the Soriano-Neto's transfer out of state 'absolutely smacks of retaliation.' 'The suggestion that ICE is somehow retaliating for media coverage is ridiculous,' the ICE spokesperson said. 'ICE does not allow coverage from the Boston Globe or any media outlet to dictate our operations.' MacDonald responded on Wednesday, saying the timing 'is either incredibly coincidental or ICE isn't paying attention to the immigration docket.' 'It's either cruelty or incompetence on their part,' he said. The ICE spokesperson said it is 'not at all unusual to move detainees.' 'The Justice Department's Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) exists nationwide with immigration judges deciding cases on the basis of the [Immigration and Nationality Act], which applies across the entire country,' the spokesperson said. 'EOIR will schedule a hearing for Ms. Soriano-Neto. As of right now they have not scheduled her next hearing.' Advertisement The spokesperson also disputed that Soriano-Neto, who unlawfully entered the country as a child, was on a pathway to legal status at the time of her arrest. '[US Citizenship and Immigration Services], who granted the deferred action in her case, canceled her deferred action status after her arrest by the Providence Police Department,' the spokesperson said. 'USCIS is independent from ICE and they chose to cancel it.' Salazar Tohme, on Tuesday, maintained Soriano-Neto had an approved petition giving her a right to get a green card as a 'special immigrant juvenile.' Immigrants are eligible for SIJ status they have 'have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent,' according to 'Once her priority date comes current, what happens is that she is eligible to file the I-485 application to register as a permanent resident,' Salazar Tohme said. 'So that's certainly a pathway to legalization.' According to MacDonald, Soriano-Neto does not yet need to appear in Rhode Island state court for the criminal case against her, but he said it is typically 'very difficult to get any out-of-state client back in Rhode Island in ICE custody.' A warrant can be issued against her if she fails to eventually appear and therefore, she will not be allowed 'to ever legally come back into the United States,' MacDonald has said. The ICE spokesperson did not answer questions about why Soriano-Neto was detained before she was convicted. Asked how ICE determines which people it will pursue and whether individuals are detained based on the facts of the case or the charges alone, the spokesperson said, 'ICE will continue to arrest individuals who are unlawfully present in the United States.' Advertisement Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-06-2025
- Boston Globe
A Providence high school student's asylum case is in limbo after ICE abruptly moves her to Colorado
'It is unusual for someone to be moved to so close to their individual hearing, however, [Customs and Border Protection], ICE, and the facilities will just say that they had to move her for space issues, or because they simply got overcrowded on the calendar, or other reasons that we don't really know about,' Salazar Tohme told the Globe. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up Salazar Tohme thinks ICE may decide to move a detainee because it would make it more difficult to retain legal counsel as 'it would just seem that that's what the administration is doing,' she said. Advertisement 'At this point, she doesn't know what's going to happen … She is scared, and she's relying on me,' she said. Soriano-Neto, a Honduran national, was slated to graduate Mount Pleasant High School this week, according to Salazar Tohme. 'She's told me ... she was only ever interested in going to school and being with her friends, and then all of this happened,' she said. Advertisement Soriano-Neto was arrested in February by Providence police on charges of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor, Rhode Island court records show. She was charged after she was blamed, without proof, by at least one of her friends, who were allegedly having sex with men for money, her attorneys have said. Soriano-Neto unlawfully entered the United States as a child, but had been on a pathway to legal status when she was arrested. She has an approved Special Immigrant Juvenile petition and had been waiting for a visa number, according to Salazar Tohme. Soriano-Neto was detained by ICE in March and was held in Maine until June 1, when she was moved to Colorado with little notice, Salazar Tohme said. Her asylum hearing had been set for June 4. Soriano-Neto was transferred days after John MacDonald, Soriano-Neto's criminal defense attorney, said Thursday the timing is not a coincidence. 'We see it with this administration: The cruelty is the point,' MacDonald said in an interview. 'And this just absolutely smacks of retaliation.' MacDonald said a warrant will perhaps be issued against Soriano-Neto when she eventually fails to appear in Rhode Island criminal court and 'there's no coming back to the United States lawfully … when there's an active warrant.' If she was held locally, the case may have gone before a grand jury, and maybe even to trial, according to MacDonald, although he thinks the matter is an 'extremely weak case' based on the evidence he has seen. Advertisement 'The issue is probable cause at this point, is such a low standard that no matter how ridiculous the story, it can still easily be charged,' MacDonald said. 'So all of that won't happen now because she is out of the state and, you know, for all practical purposes may be deported because asylum is incredibly tough to win and to prove,' he added. ICE did not return a request for comment on Friday. An online ICE detainee portal shows Soriano-Neto is being held at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colo. According to a Providence police report, officers met with the parents of a girl – whose name was redacted – who said their daughter told them she was sexually assaulted by four men in Providence. The girl told police that on Jan. 8, Soriano-Neto called her and told her to meet her on Atwells Avenue and that she was going to a party. The two met and drove to a house on Concannon Street, where the girl was met by three men. Soriano-Neto 'asked her to make sure she gives them food and make sure she gets money from the three male subjects as well,' police wrote. The girl said she was able to get $100 cash from the men, which she gave to Soriano-Neto, according to the report. Soriano-Neto left the house, and later that day four different men came to the house. Details about what allegedly happened were redacted from the report, which states only that the men 'came into the house and began to [redacted], however they did not have [redacted] with her.' Advertisement In the report, police also wrote, 'It should be noted that [redacted name]'s statement was vague and inconsistent.' MacDonald has said Soriano-Neto is not a human trafficker. 'These people from high school that were supposedly her friends were apparently hooking up with men and getting cash for it, and when word got out, they pointed the finger – at least one of them did – at Vivian ... without any proof whatsoever other than their word," MacDonald said last week. Soriano-Neto does not want to voluntarily leave the United States and is willing to 'stay as long as the appeals are going through,' Salazar Tohme said. The attorney was set to meet with Soriano-Neto's mother last Thursday, she said. 'Her mother and her sister have decided that they want to fly back to Honduras to receive her off the airplane, because they don't know what will happen to her when she gets there and they want to be there before her,' Salazar Tohme said. 'So if they leave, that essentially leaves me as her immigration attorney, the only adult in charge of her in the United States.' Salazar Tohme is not leaving the case, she said. 'I'm not going anywhere, but if I have to go to Colorado and hold Vivian's hand and tell her I'm going to appeal for her, I certainly will fly to Colorado and do that,' she said. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Boston Globe
30-05-2025
- Boston Globe
A teen accused of trafficking a minor in Providence was ‘set-up' by other people, her attorneys say. Now, she may be deported.
Advertisement 'The charges on their face look serious,' MacDonald told the Globe. 'In reality, based upon the evidence that I have viewed, this is an extremely weak case that I have no doubt ... in court with evidence and cross examination, we could substantially destroy it. But there's no hearing, and there's no procedure while she's being detained out of state.' Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up 'And that's been the problem with ICE these days: They're picking up people, detaining them out of state, and what happens to the criminal cases are you simply have no ability to contest the evidence, and warrants issue,' he continued. 'So not only do the charges linger, but the warrants linger, and therefore there's an inability to ever legally come back into the United States.' Advertisement Soriano-Neto was taken into ICE custody on March 11, the agency said in 'Children are among the most vulnerable members of society and anyone who would do them harm represents a significant threat to our community,' ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in a statement. According to a Providence police arrest report, on Jan. 14, officers met with the parents of a girl – whose name was redacted in the report – who said their daughter told them she was sexually assaulted by four men in Providence. The girl told authorities that on Jan. 8, she received a call around 8 a.m. from a friend, who was identified as Soriano-Neto, who told her to meet her on Atwells Avenue and that she was going to a party. The girl said she then left Mount Pleasant High School, met Soriano-Neto, and drove with her to a house on Concannon Street, where she was met by three men, the report states. Soriano-Neto 'asked her to make sure she gives them food and make sure she gets money from the three male subjects as well,' police wrote. The girl said she was able to get $100 cash from the men, which she gave to Soriano-Neto, according to the report. Soriano-Neto then left the house, leaving the girl by herself, police wrote. At around 2 p.m., four different men came to the house, police wrote. Details about what allegedly happened were redacted from the report: The men 'came into the house and began to [redacted], however they did not have [redacted] with her,' the report states. Advertisement The girl said she was able to defend herself and run away from them, according to police. As she was fleeing, someone she knew saw her and 'was able to help her,' the report states. That person brought her to a friend's house on Broad Street, where the girl spent the next three days before she was brought home on Jan. 11, according to police. The girl had been reported missing by her parents from Jan. 8 to 11, authorities wrote. According to the report, Soriano-Neto was arrested by Providence police on Feb. 20. ICE officials said she was charged with indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor. Court records show Soriano-Neto posted a $35,000 bond on Feb. 21. Another person, Saul Adalid Izaguirre Pavon, was also arrested in connection to the case on March 22, records show. MacDonald said Soriano-Neto is not a human trafficker. 'These people from high school that were supposedly her friends were apparently hooking up with men and getting cash for it, and when word got out, they pointed the finger – at least one of them did – at Vivian ... without any proof whatsoever other than their word," MacDonald said. In the report, police wrote, 'It should be noted that [redacted name]'s statement was vague and inconsistent.' MacDonald has asked the state Attorney General's Office to take a close look at the case. Salazar Tohme said felony cases typically have at least a six-month review in state court, but Soriano-Neto has not been afforded that since she was detained by ICE so quickly. Salzar Tohme is now seeking asylum status for Soriano-Neto, who already has an approved Special Immigrant Juvenile petition, but is still waiting for a visa number, she said. Advertisement Immigrants are eligible for SIJ status they have 'have been abused, abandoned, or neglected by a parent,' according to 'We're put in this position where a child is essentially going to be sent back to her country, and she didn't get her day in state court, and I think that is a grave injustice,' Salzar Tohme said. She added, 'The more that this happens, the more that we need to realize that the system is completely broken and individualized cases need to be looked at more carefully.' ICE officials said Soriano-Neto was arrested on Oct. 25, 2017 after she unlawfully entered the United States at Calexico, Calif. and was later released on parole by ICE on Nov. 17, 2017. She would have been around 10 years old at the time. ICE did not respond to requests seeking more information. The Rhode Island US Attorney's Office also announced developments in two immigration-related cases on Thursday. Officials Prosecutors said Alvarado was previously deported in July 2015 after he was convicted in Connecticut on cocaine and heroin trafficking charges. But immigration officers learned he was back in the country last month when his fingerprints matched in the National Crime Information Center after he was arrested in Rhode Island for allegedly driving on a suspended license and on an obstruction charge, officials said. Alvarado is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25. Advertisement Prosecutors also Perez was previously convicted in Rhode Island state court in December 2023 on charges of simple assault and/or battery and disorderly conduct, officials said. He was removed from the country by ICE on Nov. 20, 2024. But on May 12, immigration officers learned he was in the United States when his fingerprints matched in the crime information center after he was arrested on May 11 in Rhode Island for domestic disorderly conduct and for allegedly violating a domestic no contact order, officials said. He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 2 and is being held at the Adult Correctional Institutions on the state-level charges, prosecutors said. Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Honduran national charged with child trafficking crimes in Rhode Island, feds say
A Honduran woman living in the U.S. illegally has been charged with child trafficking crimes in Rhode Island, federal authorities said Tuesday. Vivian Gisselle Soriano-Neto is charged with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. She remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. Officers with ICE Boston, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration New England, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Boston arrested Soriano-Neto in Providence on March 11. 'Vivian Gisselle Soriano-Neto apparently trafficked a child for nefarious reasons,' ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement. 'Children are among the most vulnerable members of society and anyone who would do them harm represents a significant threat to our community,' Hyde said. 'ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing criminal alien offenders from New England.' Providence Police arrested Soriano on Feb. 20 and charged her with two counts of indecent solicitation of a child and trafficking of a minor. U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested Soriano-Neto on Oct. 25, 2017, after she illegally entered the United States at the Calexico, California, port of entry. Border Protection transferred custody of Soriano to ICE. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issued Soriano-Neto a notice to appear before a Justice Department immigration judge Nov. 9, 2017, officials said. ICE later released Soriano-Neto on parole on Nov. 17, 2017. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
