The US Department of Justice on Thursday nabbed a “violent” illegal Mexican immigrant convicted of assault — and slammed an upstate sheriff for cutting the goon loose despite a federal deportation order.
Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to third-degree assault charges in Tompkins County, was quickly released by the local sheriff’s office despite a federal arrest warrant — a symptom of the Empire State’s migrant-friendly “sanctuary” status, federal prosecutors said in a release.
On Thursday, the US Marshals Service and federal immigration agents caught up with the fugitive.
“Federal agents risked their safety and pursued the defendant in unsafe conditions,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove fumed in a statement after the operations.
“Today, they were successful in recapturing the defendant,” Bove said.
“I applaud the U.S. Attorney’s commitment to investigate these circumstances for potential prosecution, and the efforts of the agents who were able to arrest the defendant under wholly avoidable circumstances.”
According to the feds, Romero-Hernandez was taken into custody and deported in the past, but returned to the US at some point.
On Jan. 8, 2024, while still on the loose, he was charged with illegally re-entering the county and was marked for deportation.
When the migrant was busted on assault charges in Ithaca, federal immigration officials requested he be held by the sheriff’s office — which was ignored and he was released.
The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
But in a statement, county officials addressed the incident.
“The County is aware of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity at the Human Services Building (320 W. State St./MLK Jr St., Ithaca) today … and is fully investigating the circumstances.
“The individual in question was recently released from the Tompkins County jail,” the statement said.
“The public should be assured that the county continues to adhere to its long-standing policies concerning interaction with federal immigration authorities.”
A spokesperson for the city of Ithaca said in a separate release that the city and the county both adopted sanctuary policies in 2017 “in resistance to President Trump’s first election.”
“Tompkins County’s policy states that county employees, such as the sheriff, ‘should not engage in certain activities solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law, including ‘a civil immigration warrant,’ administrative warrant, or an immigration detainer in the individual’s name, including those identified in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database,” the rep said in an email.
Trump, now back in the White House, has long been a vocal critic of “sanctuary” policies adopted by New York and other states, and has now launched a nationwide manhunt for violent illegal immigrants.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate actions that endanger law enforcement and make their jobs harder than they already are, as they work to protect us all,” Bove said in Thursday’s statement.
“We will use every tool at our disposal to prevent sanctuary city policies from impeding and obstructing lawful federal operations designed to make America safe again and end the national crisis arising from four years of failed immigration policy.”
A spokesperson for New York State Police Troop C said in a statement that the department “was an assisting agency in an investigation,” but did not provide details.
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