Here’s why its so hard for ICE to deport migrants accused of a crime in NYC: ‘Big logistical headache’

As New York City grapples with a wave of migrant-related crime — punctuated by recent high-profile incidents that left police officers injured — many are wondering why federal immigration authorities aren’t deporting suspected criminals at a faster rate.

But immigration experts told The Post on Tuesday that it can be difficult — both legally and logistically — for the federal government to deport migrants before they are convicted of a crime.

They said part of the difficulty stems from the city’s sanctuary laws, which prohibit local police from contacting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or honoring “detainees” that the federal agency released.

A current ICE official told the Post that sanctuary city laws are helping propel the recent crime wave — which includes the April 2 incident in which two Venezuelan migrants accused of shoplifting in Manhattan were retaliated when they were arrested.

The NYPD, the official said, “will not contact immigration at all.”

“ICE has no idea,” the official said, adding that the city also prohibits agency agents from entering its shelters to make arrests.

If ICE takes someone into custody, the agency can begin the deportation process relatively quickly, and it will do so in some cases, such as after a conviction.

But experts say the agency is often picky about who it pursues. For example, ICE can arrest people simply for being in the country illegally — and it has done so thousands of times in the Big Apple last year, according to The City.

But if a migrant is arrested for a more serious crime, the agency will generally wait for the legal system to do its job, according to Robert Osuna, a Manhattan criminal lawyer who often works on immigration cases.

“If they’re not convicted, (ICE) usually doesn’t accept them because then it becomes a big logistical headache,” Osuna said.

“If ICE were to take everyone who was at Rikers Island and under deportation proceedings, and place them in immigration centers, local prosecutors would have a nightmare trying to arrest them every time you have to produce them (for the court).”

The agency also doesn’t really target low-level criminals who commit relatively minor crimes like shoplifting, he said.

“They have the right to have their priorities,” Osuna said.

“And ICE has deprioritized these petty criminals. For what? I don’t know. But this is accelerating because the elections are approaching.”

Two specific sanctuary laws have proven particularly controversial.

This prevents the city from honoring ICE requests to detain someone for possible deportation — unless they have been convicted of specific violent offenses and a judge has signed a arrest warrant for his expulsion.

The other prohibits the use of city resources to assist in immigration enforcement.

But even if ICE manufactured the collars, it would still be difficult to send them back to countries like Venezuela, which continues to refuse deportation flights that bring back its own citizens, the former ICE field office director told the Post. ICE, John Fabbricatore.

“Because Venezuela is a recalcitrant country that refuses to accept the return of its citizens, we find ourselves in a situation where there is no deterrent for criminals who have entered the country illegally,” said Fabbricatore, who is currently running for Congress in Colorado’s 6th District.

Each time ICE agents make an arrest, the cases are reviewed to determine whether they are a “priority” for law enforcement, the official said.

Arrest and custody decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and are often influenced by the severity of the crime and the suspect’s circumstances.

Further complicating matters is that ICE is limited in terms of sleeping space, the official said. And in some cases, the agency releases lower-level criminals to free up space for those considered a priority.

“Cases like this highlight the problem and show that illegal aliens no longer fear deportation,” Fabbricatore said.

The Post has contacted ICE for comment.

Michael Wildes, an immigration lawyer in New York, said migrants accused of crimes should be able to have their day in court before the federal government decides whether to deport them.

“You don’t deport someone without first giving them a day to appear in criminal court,” Wildes told the Post on Tuesday.

“Once they have their day in court, if they are guilty, they serve their time and then, thanks to ICE, they get straight on a plane.”

“But unfortunately this is the politics of the moment,” he continued.

“It seems we have been too lenient with people who commit crimes.”

Many echoed concerns about sanctuary laws, which have been around for decades but have expanded significantly over the past 15 years.

In 2011, the city moved to restrict local government’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration agents, according to The City.

Then, in 2014, former Mayor Bill de Blasio further expanded protections by prohibiting the NYPD or Department of Correction from honoring ICE detention requests.

But ICE continues to operate in the Big Apple — mostly independently — and arrested 9,229 people in the city last year, the outlet added. Most of them hadn’t broken any laws other than being here illegally.

Wildes, the immigration attorney, lamented that authorities need to start enforcing existing laws.

“They should enforce existing laws and ensure that people are prosecuted and examples are given as a deterrent,” he said.

“People are then encouraged to take greater risks. »

With post wires