NEW JERSEY — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested dozens of people in New Jersey who’d previously been released from local law enforcement instead of being transferred to ICE, officials said Thursday.
ICE officials noted there are other similar undocumented immigrants they’re still looking for. Luciano Trejo-Dominguez, 33, was arrested Aug. 12 by NJ police on a charge of aggravated sexual assault. He was released on Aug. 23 and remains at large.
The New Brunswick Police Department arrested Camarillo-Ruiz, 33, on a charge of assault on Aug. 18, ICE officials said. The immigration agency lodged a detainer, which they do when they believe they have probable cause to deport someone. But Camarillo-Ruiz was released and remains at large.
ICE Acting Director Matthew Albence called out jurisdictions that release people the agency put a detainer on.
“As law enforcement professionals, it is frustrating to see senseless acts of violence and other criminal activity happen in our communities, knowing ICE could have prevented them with just a little cooperation,” Albence said at a Thursday press conference. “To the public, who want to live and raise your families in safe neighborhoods, we ask you to hold your lawmakers accountable before you, or someone you love, is unnecessarily victimized by a criminal ICE could have removed from the country.”
Enforcement and Removal Operations officers targeted people like Trejo-Dominguez and Camarillo-Ruiz during the Sept. 21 – Sept. 25 operation.
