A Mexican citizen who had been in local custody after pleading guilty to assault charges, and was released from custody by the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office after the sheriff’s office refused to honor a federal arrest warrant, has been arrested and taken into custody by federal law enforcement.
“The Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office in Ithaca, NY, a self-described sanctuary city, appears to have failed to honor a valid federal arrest warrant for a criminal alien with an assault conviction,” said Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. “Yesterday, despite the warrant, a defendant with no legal status and a history of violence was released into the community. Federal agents risked their safety and pursued the defendant in unsafe conditions. Today, they were successful in recapturing the defendant. 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. 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. 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.”
Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, was charged in a federal criminal complaint on Jan. 8, 2024, with illegally reentering the United States after a prior removal.
Because Romero-Hernandez was then in the custody of the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office in Ithaca, New York, awaiting resolution of New York State assault charges, U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) provided a copy of a federal arrest warrant, signed by a U.S. Magistrate Judge, to the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office.
On Jan. 28, after Romero-Hernandez’s New York State assault charges were resolved by his plea of guilty to assault in the third degree and a sentence of time-served, the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office refused to honor the federal arrest warrant and released Romero-Hernandez before ICE-ERO arrived to pick him up and bring him to federal court in Syracuse to be arraigned on the pending federal criminal complaint.
Today ICE-ERO apprehended Romero-Hernandez with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The charges in the complaint pending against Romero-Hernandez are merely accusations, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York is looking into the circumstances surrounding his release.