U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Tuesday that officers made 118 arrests during “Operation Cross Check” in New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley during a five-day long raid.
Out of the 118 arrests for violating U.S. immigration laws, 107 of those individuals were convicted criminals or had pending criminal charges, and more than 55 individuals had been issued a final order of removal but either failed to leave the United States or return illegally, ICE said in a statement.
Many of those arrested had felony convictions for serious and/or violent offenses including sex crimes, assault and weapons charges. Several had past convictions for multiple and/or significant misdemeanors, according to ICE.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officers arrest an undocumented Mexican immigrant during a raid in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn on April 11, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
“The success of this operation is a direct result of the full commitment of the dedicated men and women of ICE,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York.
He continued:
In spite of the significant obstacles that ICE faces due to the dangerous policies created by local jurisdictions, which hinders the cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement, ICE will continue to devote the full efforts of our agency to protecting citizens and enforcing federal immigration law despite challenges being pursued by politically motivated individuals.
The arrests, according to ICE’s statement, included:
- In Brooklyn, a 44-year-old Ecuadorian national, and registered sexual offender, who has a conviction of Attempted Sexual Abuse (two female victims under the age of 8), for which he was sentenced to 10 years of probation supervision;
- In Deer Park, a 34-year-old Ecuadorian national, who has convictions of Sexual Abuse 1st Degree: Contact by Forcible Compulsion;
- In Brooklyn, a 33-year-old previously removed Jamaican national, who has convictions of Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, and Harassment;
- In Corona, a 44-year-old Peruvian national, and registered sexual offender, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has a conviction of Forcible Touching: Touch Intimate Parts of Another Person;
- In Brooklyn, a 49-year-old previously removed Jamaican national, who has convictions of Burglary, Robbery, and six separate Larcenies;
- In Kew Gardens, a 34-year-old Honduran national, and registered sexual offender, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has a conviction of Sexual Misconduct;
- In the Bronx, a 37-year-old, Honduran national, who has convictions of Robbery, Assault, Criminal Mischief, Criminal Facilitation, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Possession of Marijuana, Grand Larceny, and Petit Larceny;
- In Brooklyn, a 30-year-old Israeli national, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has a federal conviction for Conspiracy to Defraud the United States: Counterfeiting Currency;
- In the Bronx, a 23-year-old previously removed Dominican national, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has a pending local charge of Rape 3rd Degree. The victim, a child under the age of 17;
- In Rockville Centre, a 41-year-old Panamanian national, released from Nassau County Correctional Center custody with an active detainer, who has a conviction for Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon;
- In Flushing, a 29-year-old Ecuadorian national, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer on two separate occasions, who has convictions for Bail Jumping, criminal Facilitation, Disorderly Conduct, Grand Larceny, and Attempted Grand Larceny;
- In Kew Gardens, a 34-year-old Honduran national, and registered sexual offender, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has a conviction of Sexual Misconduct;
- In Brooklyn, a 30-year-old previously removed Guatemala national, who has convictions of Harassment, and Public Lewdness;
- In Brooklyn, a 57-year-old previously removed Jamaica national, released from NYPD custody with an active detainer, who has convictions of Attempted Criminal Sale Controlled Substance, Criminal Possession Controlled Substance (4 separate occasions), Criminal Sale Marijuana, and Criminal Possession Marijuana
Activists march and rally against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration’s immigration policies, near the ICE offices in Federal Plaza, June 29, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Democratic New York Rep. Yvette Clarke made an appearance at a protest against ICE in New York on Monday while accompanying immigration activist Ravi Ragbir, the executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition in New York. She was seen and recorded defending those who were being cross-checked, calling ICE “the Gestapo.”
ICE first attempted to deport Ragbir, who is married to an American citizen, in 2006 for a 2000 wire fraud conviction and sentencing that he and his attorneys are now trying to have reversed.
ICE again tried to deport Ragbir last year but was unable to do so because, as The Intercept reports, “Ragbir has several ongoing legal proceedings — including a First Amendment lawsuit alleging that ICE is targeting him for deportation based on his political speech — and federal courts in both the 2nd and 3rd Circuits of the U.S. Court of Appeals have issued stays forbidding ICE from deporting him until those proceedings are resolved.”
As such, ICE did not deport him during “Operation Cross Check” but ordered Ragbir to report back in six months.