‘Criminal alien’ duo charged in deadly Connecticut home invasion as DHS moves to yank green cards

US authorities have charged two Dominican nationals, Ivan Antonio Barias-Florimon, 24, and Stuar Jose Lopez-Reyes, 25, over a fatal home invasion in Milford, Connecticut, and the Department of Homeland Security is now seeking to revoke both men's green cards. DHS labelled the pair "criminal aliens" after they allegedly broke into a beach house and shot a couple, killing Fredrick Werner, 69, while his wife was left in hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. The case has become a flashpoint in the wider debate over immigration enforcement, with DHS stressing that permanent residency can be withdrawn from those convicted of crimes.

The attack took place on 3 June, and arrest warrants were issued on 28 July, with Lopez-Reyes detained two days later by US Marshals and local police. Barias-Florimon, who entered the US in 2007 as the son of a lawful permanent resident, was arrested in the Bronx by a US Marshals fugitive task force. Lopez-Reyes arrived on a visa in 2016, was convicted of disorderly conduct following a 2021 arrest, and was granted lawful permanent resident status in October 2022. DHS said that "possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right" and that the government retains authority to revoke it when laws are broken.