TOMPKINS COUNTY, NY - The Department of Justice Thursday slammed Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne after his office released a violent Mexican illegal alien who was picked up on assault charges by Ithaca police despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) having a detainer on him asking for him to be detained for deportation, The New York Post reported.
Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to third-degree assault charges and, despite the detainer, was quickly released due to New York’s “sanctuary” status,” federal prosecutors said in a release.
Romero Hernandez's brief flirtation with freedom ended on Thursday when the US Marshals Service and federal immigration authorities nabbed him.
“Federal agents risked their safety and pursued the defendant in unsafe conditions,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a statement.
“Today, they were successful in recapturing the defendant,” Bove said.
“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.”
Authorities said this wasn’t the suspect’s first rodeo, as he has been taken into custody and deported numerous times in the past but made his way back to the United States.
On Jan. 8, 2024, he was charged with illegally re-entering the US and marked for deportation. Even so, Sheriff Osborne cut Romero Hernandez loose.
The New York Post reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment, however, they did not respond.
County officials, however, issued the following statement, “The County is aware of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity at the Human Services Building (320 W. State St./MLK Jr. St., Ithaca) today…and is fully investigating the circumstances.
“The individual in question was recently released from the Tompkins County jail,” the statement said.
“The public should be assured that the county continues to adhere to its long-standing policies concerning interaction with federal immigration authorities.
Meanwhile, in a separate release from the city of Ithaca, a spokesperson said the city and county adopted sanctuary policies in 2017 “in resistance to President Trump’s first election.”
“Tompkins County’s policy states that county employees, such as the sheriff, ‘should not engage in certain activities solely for the purpose of enforcing federal immigration law, including a ‘civil immigration warrant,’ administrative warrant, or an immigration detainer in the individual’s name, including those identified in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database,” the spokesperson said in an email.
President Trump has long slammed so-called “sanctuary” policies adopted by New York and other liberal-run states and cities. After he was inaugurated on January 20, the president has fulfilled a campaign promise to implement the “largest mass deportation effort in American history.”
“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,” Bove said in Thursday’s statement.
“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.”
A spokesperson for New York State Police Troop C issued a statement saying the department “was an assisting agency in an investigation” but did not provide further details.
Comments
2025-02-03T15:57-0500 | Comment by: thomas
Arrest the Sherriff
2025-02-03T21:36-0500 | Comment by: Bruce
It’s New York, wha5 do you expect?
2025-02-05T09:53-0500 | Comment by: Philip
For some people (especially the ones that aren't in continual danger of being victimized), up is down, and down is up. "What a non-judgmental society amounts to is that common decency is optional -- which means that decency is likely to become less common." Thomas Sowell
2025-02-05T10:48-0500 | Comment by: Michael
Asss clown