ICE issues subpoenas to obtain information refused under Connecticut’s sanctuary policies
ICE continues effort to use longstanding legal authority to request information regarding criminal aliens
BOSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) served three immigration subpoenas Thursday to the State of Connecticut Court Support Services Division officials, requesting information on multiple illegal aliens who were criminally arrested in Connecticut, and yet under Connecticut’s non-cooperation policies officials have refused to honor immigration detainers or even provide ICE with information about the release dates of criminal alien public safety threats. Issuance of these immigration subpoenas was necessary because the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections has continued to ignore ICE’s requests for information and cooperation.
“It’s unfortunate that elected officials in Connecticut seem unable to grasp the public safety threat posed by the criminal illegal aliens these officials are attempting to shield,” said acting Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons of ERO Boston. “These are the same criminals who’ve already been arrested for crimes by state and/or local law enforcement, often perpetrated against the very immigrant communities these officials claim to be protecting. Despite these short-sighted, reckless ‘sanctuary-for-criminal-aliens’ policies, ICE will continue to use all available legal tools to safeguard the public.”
ICE uses statutorily-authorized immigration subpoenas to obtain information as part of investigations regarding potential removable aliens. ICE has not historically needed to use its lawful authority to issue these subpoenas to obtain information from other law enforcement agencies as most law enforcement agencies throughout the country willingly provide ICE with information regarding aliens arrested for crimes in the interest of public safety.
ICE is using every tool available to obtain information regarding the whereabouts and other relevant information regarding removable aliens from jurisdictions that chose to, or are unable to, cooperate with ICE. The criminal aliens about whom ICE sought information from the State of Connecticut include:
- A 31-year-old illegally present citizen of Honduras convicted of second degree manslaughter following a hit and run incident that caused the death of a Connecticut driver in New Haven in 2016. The Honduran national, who had served three years of a reduced sentence for his conviction of second degree manslaughter following the hit and run incident, was released in January 2020, by the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections. Despite a final order of removal issued against him by an immigration judge and despite ICE’s having lodged a detainer against him, he was released by the state last month;
- A 20-year-old unlawfully present Guatemalan national with a final order of removal, arrested in Stamford, Connecticut, and convicted of third degree burglary and second-degree robbery charges in October 2019, who was released by the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections in January 2020, as a result of Connecticut’s sanctuary policies, despite ICE having lodged a detainer against him;
- A 21-year-old illegally present citizen of the Dominican Republic, who was convicted of two counts of narcotics possession with intent to sell but was released by the State of Connecticut Department of Corrections, despite ICE having lodged a detainer for him.
ICE is currently actively attempting to locate all three removable aliens who remain at large, and present a threat to the public, as a direct result of the State of Connecticut’s deliberate policy of providing sanctuary for criminal illegal aliens.
In recent weeks, ICE has also issued immigration subpoenas to authorities in New York City and Denver, Colorado, after announcing it will exercise its longstanding legal authority to request critical information required to enforce federal immigration law from jurisdictions that adamantly refuse to cooperate local. Should the law enforcement agencies neglect or refuse to respond to the subpoena, an immigration officer may coordinate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district in which the subpoena was issued to seek an order from the U.S. District Court requiring production pursuant to INA § 235(d)(4)(B), 8 C.F.R. § 287.4(d).
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