WASHINGTON: The United States Justice Department (DOJ) said on Thursday (Jan 30) it was probing the release by an upstate New York sheriff’s office of an immigrant living in the US illegally, in what appears to be its first use of a new policy to target state and local agencies that do not comply with President Donald Trump’s directives.
The department last week directed federal prosecutors to consider criminal investigations of state and local officials if they interfere with federal immigration enforcement, in a crackdown on “sanctuary cities”.
The incident took place on Wednesday in Ithaca, New York, a deeply progressive city in New York’s Finger Lakes region, and involved Mexican national Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, who had been in custody over an assault charge.
Federal prosecutors said the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office released him despite an outstanding federal arrest warrant on a charge of illegally reentering the US after a prior removal.
Romero-Hernandez was later arrested on the immigration charge by federal agents.
“Yesterday, despite the warrant, a defendant with no legal status and a history of violence was released into the community,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a statement.
Bove said he welcomed the local US attorney’s office’s commitment “to investigate these circumstances for potential prosecution”.
Ithaca said the city’s police department adhered to “all relevant city policies” and “did not participate in any immigration enforcement activities”.
The statement did not directly address the case cited by the Justice Department.
The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office could not be immediately reached for comment.
