Washington DC.— The interim director of the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE), Matt Albence, attacked Friday the New York Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, for supporting sanctuary policies that, in his opinion, hurt the public safety, following the recent death of an elderly woman allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant.
During a press conference in New York, Albence resumed its usual attacks against the sanctuary cities, which limit their cooperation with the immigration authorities to the maximum, and this time focused on harshly criticizing De Blasio.
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Albence blamed New York City's sanctuary policy for an incident on January 6, in which Maria Fuertes, a 92-year-old woman from Queens, was allegedly raped and killed by Reeaz Khan, an undocumented Guyanese immigrant who Last November he had been released.
"The policy of this city has prevented ICE from applying its authority to protect you and your neighbors ... people, these are preventable crimes and, above all, they are preventable victims," said Albence.
If the local authorities had handed Khan to ICE, Fuertes "would walk the streets safely", but "the sanctuary policies of this city are the only reason why this criminal could walk free through the streets and end his life of an innocent woman, "Albence argued.
Khan, who faces charges for the death of Fuertes, had been arrested by police on November 27 for assaulting his father, but was released weeks before the murder.
The case has confronted ICE with the New York Police Department, which insists that it did not receive the agency's request to retain Khan in prison while waiting to hand him over to his custody.
The mayor of New York has accused the Government of Donald Trump of "politicizing this tragedy."
The interim secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, has joined the campaign of attacks against De Blasio this week, suggesting that his sanctuary policy resulted in a "collapse of law and order" in the city.
https://twitter.com/DHS_Wolf/status/1217600924744585216
De Blasio replied in a series of messages on Twitter that the city has registered a low crime rate and that the president, Donald Trump, should “stop spreading lies” about the New York police.
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1217643038618669056
https://twitter.com/NYCMayor/status/1217643596888838144
Albence said today that, in 2019, ICE requested the retention of 7,526 criminals in local New York prisons - through documents known in English as detainers - so that they will later be taken into custody. Local authorities rejected those requests, he said.
Most of these immigrants faced criminal charges or had already been convicted of homicide, robbery, rape, gun offenses, physical attacks, and drunk driving charges, Albence said.
He also criticized the “myths” that persist about ICE, insisting that the federal agency does not make random “raids,” and that 70% of people arrested for immigration violations are handed over by other law enforcement authorities.
"Almost nine out of 10 people we arrested have already been convicted, face criminal charges, or are fugitive immigrants" with deportation orders, Albence insisted, flanked by posters with faces of criminals who were released because the police did not collaborate with ICE.
According to Albence, there are 600,000 runaway immigrants across the country, including some 7,300 who were released because the police ignored the agency's withholding requests.
The official repeated his position that ICE will continue to enter neighborhoods, employment sites and public places in “sanctuary” jurisdictions, because its duty is to enforce immigration laws.
Last October, the Department of Justice requested the Supreme Court to agree to review its lawsuit against California, to determine whether it is a “sanctuary state”, after the approval of a state law in 2017, unduly interferes with the immigration tasks of the agencies federal
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ICE blames New York for the death of the 'lady of the cats'. The killer was an undocumented
