Last year, new, unsettling information emerged regarding a significant number of illegal immigrant criminals in New York City, including individuals linked to serious crimes like murder.
The Department of Homeland Security noted that one such individual is José Antonio Andreo-Quesada, a Cuban national and convicted murderer. His criminal history is extensive, involving charges of murder, theft, disorderly conduct, drug possession, robbery, trespassing, and assault.
After being released from Rikers Island, he was arrested again for violating parole, leading to ICE taking him into custody on August 16.
Another suspect, Anastasio Tejada Almonte, hails from the Dominican Republic and faces charges related to murder, assault, unlawful weapon possession, and evading law enforcement, according to DHS.
Despite being detained by ICE in May, he was released by the New York Department of Corrections on July 27.
These two men are part of a larger group—6,947 criminals were released from New York prisons in the past year, even though active ICE detainees were asking to be handed over for deportation.
Many violent offenders were let go, and a number were not deported, facing lesser sentences, as explained by DHS. This seems to reflect local policies that limit cooperation between law enforcement and federal agencies like ICE.
Another concerning case involves Alex Jarrez Martínez Avila, an illegal immigrant from Honduras who has a long list of offenses, including assault, possession of stolen property, unauthorized vehicle use, fraud, trespassing, and having burglary tools.
ICE had detained him on May 26, but issues in the Queens Central Booking Bureau led to his early release, which tragically resulted in loss of life, according to DHS.
Avila had been on the lam until being rearrested on charges of murder and robbery; he remains in custody, and ICE has filed for a new arrest on September 22.
Under the Trump administration, there was an effort to more actively locate and deport violent criminals.
But despite those efforts, Luis Franklin Tenesaca-Parjisaca, an Ecuadorian national, was released after local authorities ignored an ICE detainer request filed on August 27.
Only to be rearrested on suspicion of murder on September 24, ICE located him three days later to issue a new detainer.
William Alexander Paredes-Vazquez, who has been linked to multiple assaults and murders, was released on July 10, despite an ICE detainer request.
Then there’s Hector de Sousa Villalta, from Venezuela, charged with multiple serious crimes but nonetheless released from Rikers Island despite ICE’s intervention.
With little help from local agencies, ICE has been left to track down these violent offenders to ensure their deportation, as they can often cross back into the country multiple times.
And then there are individuals like Jesús Romero Hernández, who, after being deported from the U.S. seven times, attacked an Ithaca police officer with a machete. Just last month, he was deported again, this time for the eighth time.
