The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced the arrest of 82 alleged illegal immigrants during a five day stretch from September 20 - September 25 in New York state. Forty-two of these individuals had been previously apprehended by local police, but released back into the streets despite having federal detainer requests from ICE. At least two of these foreign nationals have been previously accused of unwanted touching and sexual assault with pending charges.
Mark Lungariello of the Rockland/Westchester News reports that "a 32-year-old man arrested in Yonkers had been released in New York City despite a detainer. The unnamed man, of Peru, was out on charges including forcing touching with the subject victim to sexual contact on a bus/train/subway and sexual abuse in the third degree."
Lunagariello also reports that "51-year-old registered sex offender was picked up in Mamaroneck after he was released by New York, ICE said. He is facing charges of forcible touching, public lewdness, third-degree sexual abuse and unlawful surveillance. A Mexico native, the man was previously convicted of unlawful surveillance and using an imaging device to view under clothing."
At least 10 of those arrested had been previously deported from the U.S. but re-entered the country.
"Of those arrested during these five days, more than half were released from local custody with an active detainer," Thomas Decker, field office director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, said in a statement. "That is more than three dozen illegal aliens with convictions or criminal charges who were released back into New York communities, further putting the safety of its residents at risk."
As Townhall has reported, ICE has increasingly been at odds with local police and state authorities which choose to ignore federal law. ICE has long maintained that "sanctuary cities," or those communities whose elected leaders do not respect federal law, endanger countless American lives by releasing illegal immigrants out of their jails.
"Local jurisdictions that choose to not cooperate with ICE are likely to see an increase in ICE enforcement activity, as in jurisdictions that do not cooperate with ICE the agency has no choice but to conduct more at-large arrest operations," ICE said in a press release.
"A consequence of ICE being forced to make more arrests on the streets is the agency is likely to encounter other unlawfully present foreign nationals that wouldn’t have been encountered had we been allowed to take custody of a criminal target within the confines of a local jail," the agency added.
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