In recent days, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting frequent enforcement operations in New York, apprehending and deporting convicted immigrant criminals. Despite New York City’s status as a “sanctuary city,” which hinders local law enforcement from executing ICE-issued detainers, there have been advancements in collaboration between the Adams administration and the federal government, according to internal ICE officials.
According to official information from ICE, on May 21, the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York City arrested a 62-year-old Mexican citizen who was charged with several serious crimes including manslaughter, illegal weapons possession, and illegal entry. He was apprehended directly at a federal prison in Newburgh by the ERO office, initiating the deportation process.
On May 17, ERO arrested an Ecuadorian citizen in New York City who had been convicted by the Suffolk County court on Long Island of raping a young girl. This individual had illegally entered the U.S. in January 2022 and was arrested by the Riverhead town police in January 2023 for rape. Despite being sentenced to a year in prison, he was released. However, ERO promptly arrested him upon release.
On May 10, the ERO office in New York arrested a Venezuelan gang member who was also wanted for theft by the Peruvian government. Earlier in March this year, he had been arrested by the New York City police on charges of illegal possession of weapons, loading bullets on school premises, illegal possession of contraband, and attempting to sell to minors under 17.
When this individual was about to walk out of the Nassau County detention facility, the ERO Long Island office apprehended him. He is currently detained in an ICE prison awaiting the deportation process.
ICE states that during the process of identifying and apprehending non-citizens who should be deported, they issue detainers to non-citizens arrested by local police for criminal offenses. This involves local law enforcement agencies cooperating and notifying ICE within 48 hours before releasing such criminal immigrants, allowing ICE to carry out deportation tasks.
Detainers are considered a crucial tool for public safety, focusing on deporting criminal undocumented immigrants. As detainer arrest operations take place within the detention environment, it reduces safety risks for everyone involved in the law enforcement process, including ERO personnel, police, detained non-citizens, and the American public. By transferring criminal individuals from local jails to federal prisons, the chances of these criminals returning to the streets for further criminal activities are significantly reduced.
However, New York City’s “sanctuary city” status legally hampers cooperation between the city’s police department and the federal government. Particularly, former Mayor Bill de Blasio modified local laws, explicitly prohibiting local law enforcement from collaborating with federal authorities. In the words of ICE officials, this shift turned the law from “we welcome undocumented immigrants” to “we protect violent criminals,” even leading to the deliberate release of illegal immigrant criminals, sparking the “Abolish ICE” movement in New York City.
Recently, internal ICE sources disclosed to the media that the Adams administration is actively trying to improve cooperation with ICE.
“We have made progress in cooperation,” said Ken Genalo, a federal official with decades of experience working at ICE, supervising the deportation of illegal immigrants in New York City, Long Island, and seven counties along the lower Hudson River.
Genalo emphasized the significance of detainers in deporting suspects of crimes, stating that ICE is only able to deport those detained directly. “We cannot initiate deportation procedures until we have arrested this individual.”