Roberts Nemiro, a former Latvian dance-show contestant who later built a life in Northern California, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Francisco on Tuesday. The 43-year-old Latvian national is now being held in ICE custody, turning a once-glamorous television résumé into the backdrop for a federal removal case. His arrest follows years of unauthorized stay in the United States and a criminal record that included a gun-related aggravated assault conviction.
According to a New York Post report, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services tipped off ICE to Nemiro’s location, and agents arrested him in San Francisco on Tuesday. Nemiro entered the country on a visa in October 2011, the report said, but overstayed after it expired in August 2012. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
Nemiro’s Dance-TV Past
Nemiro was a contestant on Latvia’s “Dejo ar zvaigzni!”—the Latvian counterpart to “Dancing with the Stars”—and also competed internationally as a ballroom dancer. The World DanceSport Federation record lists him as a retired Latvian competitor who danced with Ilze Andruskina from 2004 to 2005. Latvian broadcaster TV3 coverage also identified him as a dance partner and coach on the show.
That public biography is now being overshadowed by a record that the Post detailed as including a conviction for aggravated assault of a non-family member with a gun and a disorderly-conduct conviction. The report also described arrests involving allegations of sexual battery, battery, assault, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said Nemiro’s unauthorized stay and criminal history would lead to his removal from the United States.
Why California’s Sanctuary Rules Did Not Stop The Arrest
California’s sanctuary-state rules did not prevent the federal arrest. The California Attorney General’s Office says state and local law-enforcement agencies generally cannot investigate, detain or arrest people for immigration-enforcement purposes, while a separate joint statement from state attorneys general notes that the federal government may use its own resources for federal immigration enforcement. In plain English, San Francisco can limit local cooperation without having the power to cancel an ICE operation.
