ICE lodges detainer for illegal migrant charged with strangling wife and dumping body near Oklahoma highway

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer request for an illegal migrant in Oklahoma who is charged with murder for allegedly strangling his wife to death and dumping her body near a highway. 

Willie Ricardo Merida‑Escobar, 40, was charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Karla Gramajo-Cabrera, in Tulsa County, on April 10. Merida-Escobar, a Guatemalan national, entered the country illegally in September 2016 and was issued a final order of removal in 2023, according to DHS. 

“Willie Ricardo Merida‑Escobar, a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala, strangled his wife and dumped her body under a highway in Oklahoma. This monster should have never been in our country,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

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“ICE lodged an arrest detainer with our law enforcement partners in Tulsa County to ensure this sick individual is not released from custody. 7 of the top 10 safest cities in the United States cooperate with ICE,” Bis added. “Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest criminal illegal aliens across the country. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are NOT welcome in the U.S.”

According to NewsOn6, Gramajo-Cabrera was reported missing by her sister, prompting an investigation into her disappearance. 

Police noted a pattern of suspicious activity and domestic violence from her husband, Merida-Escobar, and after Escobar was taken into custody, the Guatemalan national confessed to the murder of his wife.

Local police told NewsOn6 that the couple’s 17-year-old son was asleep in the home during the time when Merida-Escobar allegedly strangled his wife on April 8.

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Merida-Escobar also told police he couldn’t pinpoint the location where he dumped his wife’s body, though she eventually was located under a mattress near a highway after further investigation using phone data and further questioning, according to NewsOn6.

According to DHS, an argument took place between the two where Merida-Escobar’s wife insulted him before he allegedly strangled her to death.

Oklahoma, unlike some “sanctuary” states and jurisdictions, has the 287(g) program, which allows local law enforcement to work with ICE and federal immigration officers to refer illegal migrant criminals to the agency for deportation proceedings. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on whether Merida-Escobar would be considered under the program to be processed for removal but did not receive a response in time for publication.