One of several Venezuelan immigrants accused of taking part in a street brawl with two New York City police officers earlier this year has been arrested by immigration authorities after the city granted a request for his detention. However, this measure goes against New York City's sanctuary city policy.
Darwin Andres Gomez Izquiel, 19, was arrested after being released from local custody. The arrests came after the New York City Department of Corrections honored a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention request despite New York City's sanctuary city status.
He remains in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings, the agency said.
“Gomez Izquiel is a criminal and a threat to New York City public officials, residents, and businesses,” said Kenneth Gennaro, ICE New York City Field Office Director. “We will not allow our communities to become safe havens for non-citizens who refuse to obey our laws. ICE New York City will continue to work to apprehend and remove these violent criminals. We will continue to work with unrelenting determination.”
Venezuelan Torren de Aragua gang member arrested in New York two years after Border Patrol release
Darwin Gomez Izquiel, 19, in a Manhattan courtroom. Gomez Izquiel has accepted a plea deal for his role in the assault of two NYPD officers in Times Square. (Fox News)
The New York City Department of Corrections said in a statement to FOX News Digital that it “processes ICE detainees in accordance with local laws that define the scope of our cooperation with federal immigration authorities.”
Gomez-Izquiel was originally arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in August 2023, but voluntarily returned to Mexico, according to ICE. He was arrested again on Oct. 3, 2023, after illegally crossing the southern border in Texas, authorities said.
He allegedly failed to appear before an immigration judge after his release.
On January 27, Gomez Izquiel was part of a group of immigrants who attacked two New York City police officers outside an immigrant shelter in Times Square. He allegedly grabbed one officer and kicked another.
Gomez Izquiel was found guilty of assault and sentenced to 364 days in prison in July.
He was initially released without bail after assaulting a police officer, but was arrested several weeks later on suspicion of involvement in a violent robbery at a Macy's department store in Queens that left a security guard with minor injuries.
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“One of immigrants “The person who attacked a police officer in Times Square last week has struck back again,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry wrote in a post on The crimes are different in different boroughs, but the disregard for the law is the same. This is what New Yorkers need most.”
boy illegal immigration The Venezuelan gang In Tren de Aragua has committed a series of crimes in New York, but thanks to the state's lenient laws, they remain free, said NYPD Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigation Jason Sabino. .
“It's shocking to say the least. We've seen the progress this group has made,” Savino told “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning.
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Sabino said 20 members of a gang known as Los Diablos de la 42, after New York's 42nd Street, were arrested on 50 separate crimes.
“When they first came, they were actually encouraged not to commit crimes, so they stuck with pickpockets, and then right after the scooter crime they got used to purse snatching,” Savino told Fox News. spoke. “Why? Because there are no consequences for their original criminal actions.”
Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
