Last Updated on September 26, 2019
The U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement task force carried out a coordinated series of arrest and detainment operations over the past week, and is on the lookout for more public safety threats.
Local police reportedly refused to cooperate with ICE and did not hand the detainees over to the immigration enforcement agency, releasing them to the community instead.
ICE was able to act swiftly and bust the illegal immigrants released by local authorities before they could disappear back into the proverbial shadows.
As Newark news site Patch reports:
More than 50 people in communities across New Jersey were arrested during a week-long probe targeting what ICE calls “public safety threats” following their release from local law enforcement custody. Three more people remain at-large, the agency says.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 54 people were released to the community instead of being transferred to ICE.
The identities of the 54 people were not released, and it’s not known why they were released to the community before they were busted by ICE. Some law enforcement authorities across America have not enforced fully enforced immigration law, saying it causes immigrants to avoid police, resist reporting crimes and become less cooperative in law enforcement investigations.
The majority of the people arrested in the probe hailed from Central and South American countries:
Those arrested come from 12 countries – Mexico (21), Jamaica (1), Ecuador (2), Honduras (4), Dominican Republic (3), El Salvador (9), Guatemala (3), Guyana (1), Brazil (7), Costa Rica (1), Georgia (1) and Pakistan (1), according to an ICE release.
ICE is on the lookout for three more men it has deemed threats to public safety, including Luciano Trejo-Dominguez, 33, arrested for aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault of a minor, criminal restraint, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child. Edgar Camarillo-Ruiz, 33, and Elvis Rafael Cabrera-Vasquez, 38, were arrested for assault and domestic violence.
All three individuals were released back into the community after ICE detainers were repeatedly declined.
Governor Phil Murphy has pushed to make New Jersey a “sanctuary state” that will refuse to cooperate with federal law and hand detainees over to ICE.
