Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday that it arrested 118 illegal immigrants in New York in a five-day raid this month, more than 107 of whom were convicted criminals or had pending charges against them — and the agency slammed local politicians for protecting them and endangering the public.
“In years past, most of these individuals would have been turned over to ICE by local authorities upon their release from jail based on ICE detainers,” ICE said in a statement on Tuesday. “Now that many sanctuary cities, including New York City, do not honor ICE detainers, these individuals, who often have significant criminal histories, are released onto the street, presenting a potential public safety threat.”
The agency, which has faced calls for its abolition from left-wing activists and a number of 2020 Democratic Party hopefuls, announced that 55 had either been issued a deportation order but weren’t deported, or had previously been removed and returned illegally. The statement said that several had prior convictions for offenses such as child sex crimes, weapons charges and assault.
“Ultimately, efforts by local NYC politicians have shielded removable criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and created another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect,” the release said.
It gave a number of examples of those arrested, including a 44-year-old Ecuadorian national arrested in Brooklyn who had previously been convicted of attempted sexual abuse of two girls under the age of 8. Also in Brooklyn, a 30-year-old Guatemalan, previously deported, was nabbed with prior convictions of harassment and “public lewdness.” The statement also gave the example of a 23-year-old Dominican, who had previously been released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who had a pending rape charge against a child under the age of 17. – READ MORE