During the month of February 2019, ICE’s Enforcement and Removal’s (ERO) deportation officers assigned to the New York Field Office arrested more than 20 criminal aliens throughout their area of responsibility, after they were released from local law enforcement custody with an active immigration detainer in place.
“The sanctuary city politics of this city continue to put the safety of New York residents at risk,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO NY. “We need our elected officials to stop the rhetoric. The fact remains that ICE makes this city safer by removing criminal aliens and public threats off the street so they are unable to reoffend, victimizing our city residents.”
In Fiscal Year 2018, the New York field office made more than 3,400 arrests in their area of responsibility (southernmost 14 counties of New York State) – approximately 87 percent of those individuals either had a prior criminal conviction or had criminal charges pending, pursuant to their arrest by a law enforcement agency. In a region with a population of approximately 8-10 million residents, these statistics clearly illustrate that ERO New York prioritizes its daily targeted enforcement efforts, on criminals and public safety threats. Reports of ICE raids, sweeps or checkpoints are false, dangerous and irresponsible. These reports create panic and put communities and law enforcement personnel in unnecessary danger. Any groups falsely reporting such activities are doing a disservice to those they claim to support.
