ICE agents are currently searching for illegal resident criminals, and not those like Oscar, above, from NY Immigration Coalition, Facebook
By Dan Murphy
Westchester residents will soon see more agents from the US Immigration Customs & Enforcement (ICE). With the election of President Trump, a new policy will be enacted regarding the detaining and deporting of illegal migrant criminals.
Westchester currently has a law that does not allow law enforcement in our communities to cooperate with ICE when they are detaining illegal migrants. This law, the Immigrant Protection Act (IPA), does not prohibit ICE from doing its job but requires it to go before a Federal Judge and get a court order before they detain these individuals in Westchester.
Opinions are split on the Westchester IPA, with supporters saying it helps protect the migrant community while opponents say it makes ICE’s job more challenging to complete.
Recently, ICE has worked in Westchester without the help of local law enforcement
and will continue to do so.
More importantly, according to Tom Homan, Director of ICE, agents are focusing on removing illegal aliens who have committed crimes. Families and illegal migrants who have not committed crimes are not the current targets of ICE.
A review of recent ICE activities in the NY Metropolitan area shows ICE activities occurring for noncitizens who presented a danger to the American public, specifically targeted noncitizens for apprehension who had felonies or misdemeanors for domestic violence, sexual abuse or exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, and driving under the influence. Drug traffickers and cartel members have also been detained and deported.
According to their website news//www.ice.gov/news/releases/ero, no family members or persons in the US illegally who have not committed a crime have been detained.
Homan has called this policy detaining the worst -first. “We are concentrating on the worst first-public safety and national security threats. We gave them the direction to prioritize public safety threats. That’s what we’re looking for. We’ve been working with a target list.”
“ICE officers throughout the country were told today, ‘Go make arrests of those here illegally that have a public safety threat.’ So, they’ve developed target sheets, an operational plan to go out in the field … so they’re out there right now looking for the most serious public safety threats throughout the country,” Homan said.
On the first day under President Trump, ICE, under the guidance of Tom Homan, has reportedly arrested 308 individuals in the past 24 hours, focusing on those illegally in the U.S. who are considered public safety threats, such as murderers and rapists. This operation is part of a broader policy shift to reduce illegal entries, with border apprehensions significantly dropping.
Homan also reported that over the first 24 hours of President Trump’s presidency, there were 766 total apprehensions on the southern US border. That compares to 10,000 to 12,000 per day under President Biden.
A Department of Justice memo states that federal prosecutors must “take all steps necessary to protect the public and secure the American border by removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes” committed in U.S. jurisdiction.”
Westchester’s two members of Congress disagree on the best course of action. Congressman George Latimer signed the IPA as County Executive.
Congressman Mike Lawler has supported ICE and the removal of illegal criminals. Last year, a report from ICE revealed that there are tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with convictions for sexual assault and homicide convictions loose on American streets. The report from ICE specifically cites sanctuary city policies as “shielding dangerous criminals, who often victimize those same communities.” Of a staggering seven million illegal immigrants not in detention as of July 2024, 425,431 were convicted criminals, and 222,141 had pending criminal charges.
“As I have said again and again, sanctuary city policies are putting Americans in danger and getting people killed,” said Lawler.
Immigration support groups in Westchester fear that the ICE policies will include detaining and deporting illegals who have not committed a crime.
The New York Immigration Coalition recently highlighted Oscar, a NY resident alien from Honduras. “I came to this country when I was 14. I have lived here for 25 years. I have spent more time living and working here. I got married and have my children here and own my truck and work here. I love Honduras, but I feel American. I just don’t have a paper that says I am an American.”
There is no evidence that ICE is working to detain and deport illegal residents like Oscar and his family. Currently, ICE is limited to working off a list of illegal alien criminals due to limited resources.
