US probes release of arrested immigrant in first challenge to sanctuary cities

The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it was probing the release by an upstate New York sheriff's office of an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, in what appears to be its first use of a new policy to target state and local agencies that do not comply with President Donald Trump's directives.

The department last week directed federal prosecutors to consider criminal investigations of state and local officials if they interfere with federal immigration enforcement, in a crackdown on "sanctuary cities."

The incident took place on Wednesday in Ithaca, New York, a deeply progressive city in New York's Finger Lakes region, and involved Mexican national Jesus Romero-Hernandez, 27, who had been in custody over an assault charge.


Federal prosecutors said the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office released him despite an outstanding federal arrest warrant on a charge of illegally reentering the U.S. after a prior removal.

Romero-Hernandez was later arrested on the immigration charge by federal agents.

"Yesterday, despite the warrant, a defendant with no legal status and a history of violence was released into the community," Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a statement.

Bove said he welcomed the local U.S. attorney's office's commitment "to investigate these circumstances for potential prosecution."

Ithaca said the city's police department adhered to "all relevant city policies" and "did not participate in any immigration enforcement activities."

The statement did not directly address the case cited by the Justice Department.

The Tompkins County Sheriff's Office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Bove last week issued a department-wide memo directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and local officials if they are "obstructing federal functions" related to immigration enforcement.

Bove traveled to Chicago on Sunday to observe a law enforcement operation involving agents from the Department of Homeland Security and agents from several Justice Department components.

A Justice Department official told Reuters this week that part of Bove's visit also served in part to "observe how sanctuary city policies impact DHS and DOJ immigration enforcement operations."

The department has since reassigned more than a dozen senior career attorneys who usually remain in their posts regardless of which party controls the White House to a newly created sanctuary cities working group.

The majority of the re-assigned Justice Department employees have little to no expertise in immigration law.

A Justice Department official said the group will focus on identifying state and local laws that are impeding federal immigration enforcement, working "on the ground to collect evidence" and assessing the Trump administration's own policies as it relates to providing funding to sanctuary cities.