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Queens advocates fume
over latest ICE sweep
Courtesy of ICE
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A five-day raid throughout
New York City, Long
Island and the Hudson Valley
rounded up 118 undocumented
immigrants, including
many Queens residents,
Immigration and Customers
Enforcement (ICE) officials
announced on Jan. 29.
The arrests took place between
Jan. 14 and Jan. 18.
According to ICE, more
than 107 of the individuals
arrested were convicted
criminals or had criminal
charges pending, while 55
were a final order of removal
and failed to depart the United
States, or had been previously
removed from the U.S.
and returned illegally.
Among the arrested, officials
say, included a Peruvian
national in Corona who
is a registered sex offender
and was convicted of forcible
touching; two registered sex
offenders in Kew Gardens,
both Honduran nationals,
that were convicted of sexual
misconduct; and an Ecuadorian
national in Flushing
who had been convicted
of bail jumping, criminal
facilitation, disorderly conduct,
grand larceny, and
attempted grand larceny.
ICE did not release
the names of those taken
into custody.
According to ICE, the arrested
individuals all had
criminal histories covering a
number of crimes, including
assault, grand larceny, drug
possession and sexual abuse.
Officials say that more than
35 of the people who were
arrested, including those
mentioned above in Queens,
had been previously released
from local law enforcement
on an active detainer.
“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
ERO New York. “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.”
According to ICE officials,
in years past, many of
the individuals would have
been turned over to ICE upon
their release from local custody.
However, ICE officials
say that now that many sanctuary
cities, including New
York City, do not generally
turn over undocumented,
formerly incarcerated immigrants
to ICE as a policy.
However, local organizations
and politicians are
speaking up against ICE
following this recent raid.
“We have seen time and
again that ICE’s statements
contain lies, exaggerated
charges, and mischaracterizations
of people’s records
in an attempt to justify
their unconstitutional and
immoral raids,” said Alisa
Wellek, executive director
of the Immigrant Defense
Project. “ICE fans the flames
of hate by demonizing any
immigrant with a criminal
record, ignoring their humanity.
Many people targeted
have an offense from
years earlier, already served
any sentence, and have since
rebuilt their lives.”
“Queens is the most diverse
borough in the country
and ICE has no place in
our community. In any city,
but especially in a sanctuary
city like New York, ICE’s
presence is unacceptable,”
said state Sen. Jessica Ramos.
“It is my job as their
representative to fight for
undocumented people and
ensure that families can stay
together. This is one reason I
am introducing the one-day
bill, which will shorten the
sentencing for misdemeanors
by just one day, so that
undocumented people do
not enter ICE deportation
proceedings after they have
paid their debt to society. I
will do everything I can to
protect undocumented people
because they are an integral
part of New York City’s
workforce, they make up my
community, and they are
my neighbors.”
Mark Hallum contributed
to this story.
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