Local authorities released a registered sex offender in 2014 that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had an active detainer on. ICE officers with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested the Mexican national last Friday.
Andres Flores Lopez, according to ICE, has two sexual abuse misdemeanor convictions from 2012 and 2014, and officials say he came to the U.S. without inspection at an unknown time and location.
While serving time at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, Flores Lopez was the focus of an immigration detainer issued by ERO officers to New York City Department of Corrections (NYCDOC) in April 2014. In December 2014, the NYCDOC released him from custody without alerting ICE.
“It is unfortunate that we continue to arrest convicted criminals off the street simply because the city refuses to honor detainers and releases them back into our communities,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “Each time an officer is forced to pick up someone who could have safely been turned over it puts the officers’ safety, as well as the safety of the neighborhoods we serve, at risk. ICE strives to strengthen its relationships with local law enforcement entities in the interest of public safety.”
Authorities have Flores Lopez in custody as he awaits to appear in immigration court.
