The US says it is processing deportation of a South Sudanese man who targeted and defiled children, intensifying clear-outs for sex pests.
According to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Ruben Marier was arrested on Sunday and is set to be deported after being identified as a child sex predator.
The department said Marier had “racked up a laundry list of convictions since his 1999 legal entry into the United States, including domestic assault, attempted child sexual assault, child negligence, leaving the scene of an accident and driving under the influence (DUI).”
According to the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry (NSOR), Marier was previously convicted on July 7, 2017, of attempted sexual assault of a child in the third degree in Grand Island, Nebraska. On the NSOR website, the organisation officially notifies the public of a registered sex offender in the community. It states: “This public notification is to inform you that the following person is registered with the NSOR. This information is being provided to the public to protect members of the public from potential harm.”
In 2008, official records from the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in San Diego listed Marier as having been arrested for DUI in El Cajon, San Diego County.
Edmund Yakani, a South Sudanese civil society leader and director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said a deportation for violating child rights is the right move but urged authorities in Juba to take up the crime and punish him further.
“The government of South Sudan should not compromise on this criminal act, which deserves punishment,” he said.
“Normally, South Sudanese deportees from foreign countries are received into the country. Even those who have committed crimes are set free without being held to account for their criminal acts in foreign countries.”
Ruben’s deportation comes hot on the heels of the 2025 deportation of eight unauthorised immigrants to South Sudan, including South Sudanese citizen Dian Peter Domach. Domach was an unauthorised immigrant from South Sudan who was arrested by ICE on May 8, 2024. He was convicted of robbery and possession of a firearm, possession of a defaced firearm, possession of burglar’s tools, and driving under the influence (DUI). All eight unauthorised immigrants were deported to South Sudan in 2025 after a prolonged legal and diplomatic battle over their removal from the US. Some have since relocated to their countries of origin.
Currently, there are 25 South Sudanese nationals on the Department of Homeland Security’s “Worst of the Worst” list, all of whom are at some stage of removal proceedings.
