NEW YORK — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday, November 9, that its New York City officers have arrested Sobirjon Sobirov Khusen Ugli, a 35-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan who, according to the agency, admitted to killing his then-girlfriend in Thailand in 2013 and was later convicted of felony theft in his home country. ICE said he will be held in custody pending removal proceedings.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Nov. 9, 2026

According to ICE, officers from its New York City field office arrested Sobirov on October 14, 2026, near his home in Brooklyn. The agency announced the arrest publicly on Monday, nearly four weeks later, describing him as an internationally wanted man and a public-safety threat. He remains in ICE custody, the agency said.

What ICE says about the 2013 Thailand case

ICE said that in 2013 Sobirov was arrested for, and admitted to, the murder of his then-girlfriend in Thailand, according to press reports the agency cited. The agency said he told police he had put her body in a suitcase and dumped the suitcase in a canal. Reporting on the announcement noted that it is not immediately clear whether Sobirov was convicted of, or served time for, the Thailand killing — ICE's statement describes an arrest and an admission, not a Thai court conviction.

What is stated as a conviction in ICE's account is a separate case in his home country: the agency said Sobirov was convicted of felony theft in Uzbekistan in 2020 and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

How he entered and stayed in the United States

Sobirov was first encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol in April 2023 after crossing the border illegally near Lukeville, Arizona, as part of a group of 110 people, ICE said. He was released into the United States on his own recognizance with a notice to appear for immigration proceedings in New York City at a later date. According to ICE, he reported once, in May 2024, and has never reported since.

His record in New York did not end there. ICE said Sobirov was arrested by the New York City Police Department for harassing communication, and that in 2024 a Kings County Criminal Court judge issued a restraining order against him.

"ICE's mission is to protect the American public, and that includes taking appropriate enforcement action against illegal aliens charged with serious crimes," ICE New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said in the agency's statement. "Our officers work every day to identify, arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens before they can cause further harm in our communities. We particularly target public safety threats like Sobirjon Sobirov."

What happens next

ICE says Sobirov will be held in its custody pending removal proceedings — the immigration-court process that decides whether a person is deported. A removal case is a civil proceeding, separate from any criminal court, and a person in Sobirov's position can contest removal before an immigration judge. ICE has not announced a hearing date or said which country he would be removed to if a judge orders his deportation.

For immigrant communities in Brooklyn — home to one of the largest Central Asian communities in the United States — cases announced in these terms are the ones ICE says sit at the top of its enforcement list: people the agency says have serious criminal histories overseas and open court orders at home. Monday's announcement gave no indication of any wider operation in the neighbourhood, and the agency described this as a targeted arrest of one man near his home.