By Dan Murphy
We have been sounding the alarm over ICE policy concerning the apprehension, detention, and deportation of illegal residents of Westchester. But we also support ICE’s efforts to arrest, detain, and deport illegal residents who have been convicted of serious crimes.
This opinion puts us in the middle of an argument where, for the most part, republicans want to deport all illegal residents and democrats want to protect all illegal immigrants.
Here are two examples of the problem.
On October 1, New Castle detectives arrested Juan Guambana, 50, of Ossining, for lewd conduct in Chappaqua: he was on the roof of a woman’s home with his pants down, recording her through her bathroom window. He was arraigned the same day on unlawful surveillance charges and released on his own recognizance, ineligible for cash bail. Guambana was deported in 2020 and came back in 2021. The New Castle Police Department has confirmed he is in the country illegally.
We FOIL’d the report of Guambana’s arrest and received the following from the New Castle Police Department. “On October 1, 2026, the New Castle Police Department arrested Juan G. Guambana (50) of Ossining, NY, for six (6) counts of Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree, New York Penal Law § 250.45(1), a class E Felony. The arrest stems from an investigation by New Castle Police Detectives into reports of a male suspect watching a female resident through the bathroom window of her residence on several occasions during the early morning hours.
“On October 1, 2026, Detectives established surveillance around the residence and observed the suspect, Guambana, actively looking through the bathroom window while the female victim was inside. The suspect was taken into custody and was not known to the victim. The Town of New Castle Police Department was assisted in this investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The investigation remains ongoing, and additional charges may be filed as more information becomes available. At this time, Detectives believe Guambana was acting alone, and there is no indication of any ongoing threat or danger to the public. The suspect was arraigned in the Town of New Castle Justice Court on October 1st, 2026. He was released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to reappear on November 5th, 2026, in the Town of New Castle Court at 6:30 p.m.” end of report.
We tried to determine what, if any, action ICE took to try and arrest Guambana after he was released. We found no evidence of any ICE actions regarding this case and also wonder if he will return for his court date. After speaking with a New Castle resident with knowledge of this case, this is an example of someone who should be deported.
On the other side of the issue is someone we will call Juan. Juan is a member of the church that my family and I attend in Westchester. In addition to being a Christian, Juan has a wife and two young children. He owns a small business in Westchester and is an upstanding citizen.
Juan was arrested by ICE six months ago, apparently because he entered the country illegally 20 years ago. Since then, he has been a productive member of our community and has committed no crimes. It’s unclear why ICE decided to arrest him. To our knowledge, he was not caught up in the arrest of another wanted criminal during an ICE sweep.
Here lies the problem. I don’t want my tax dollars being used to arrest Juan. Our federal government needs a policy for the millions of “Juans” in our country. We want these responsible people to remain here.
But we also want ICE to continue to deport people like Guambana. By committing their crimes, they no longer have the right to live here and should be deported.
Juan remains in ICE custody. Guambana is free without bail. Where is the justice in this?