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The Homeland Security Department has belatedly swooped in to take custody of two migrants accused of taking part in the mob attack on police officers in New York City and says they are part of a violent Venezuelan gang that is quickly spreading in the U.S.
Kelvin Servita-Arocha, 19, and Wilson Omar Juarez-Aguilarte, 21, were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday.
ICE said the migrants are part of the Tren de Aragua gang, which is blamed for a wave of thefts and robberies in New York.
The New York Police Department arrested the men after the mob attack on officers several weeks ago, but local authorities didn’t seek bail. The two migrants were released, sparking outrage across the political spectrum. Police came across them again while arresting another person accused of taking part in the assault on officers. ICE said it stepped in to take custody.
“Both unlawfully present Venezuelan citizens have been charged in conjunction with the violent gang assault carried out on two NYPD officers and are currently detained without bond,” said Marie Ferguson, an ICE spokeswoman. She said the agency has determined that the migrants are associated with the gang.
She said Mr. Servita-Arocha was arrested on an immigration warrant and Mr. Juarez-Aguilarte was rearrested on an outstanding deportation order. An immigration judge ordered him removed a year ago, and it was unclear why ICE had not picked him up on that order.
The lenient treatment of the migrants has enraged city residents, and even Democratic politicians are wondering about New York’s sanctuary policy and antipathy toward deportation.
Experts said Tren de Aragua has figured out how to exploit the U.S. immigration system and has slipped members across the southern border.
“They started off as a prison gang, and they’re extremely violent in Venezuela,” said Robert Almonte, a retired U.S. marshal and gang expert who said members engage in human trafficking, extortion and murder. “They’re over here now, so I don’t see why they wouldn’t continue that here.”
The assault, caught on video, showed a gang of young men kick and punch two officers who were trying to detain someone outside a migrant shelter near Times Square.
Eight people have been arrested, but local authorities have struggled to keep them behind bars.
Authorities also released Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19. He was re-arrested this week on a shoplifting charge and is now jailed.
Yohenry Brito posted $15,000 bail and walked free on Tuesday after a week in jail.
This week, authorities arrested Yarquin Madris, who was ordered to be held without bail, and Ulises Bohorquez, who is being held on a $100,000 cash bail.
Jhoan Boada and Yorman Reveron were arrested several weeks ago but were released.
Former ICE Director Thomas Homan has called on his former agency to be more active.
“Why the hell isn’t ICE locking these guys up?” he told The Washington Times this month.
ICE has not answered that question despite repeated inquiries from The Times.
“ICE has the information whether they have a detainer on someone,” said Mark Morgan, acting head of ICE and Customs and Border Protection in the Trump administration. “If they’re not providing that, they’re intentionally not providing that.”
Mr. Morgan said he isn’t surprised that the Venezuelan gang is exploiting the border. The Biden administration’s approach of catch-and-release puts gang members in American communities, he said.
“They know this. They know this happens,” he said. “They know that gang members are making their way to the border every day.”
Mr. Almonte compared Tren de Aragua to MS-13, the grotesquely violent gang that spans from Central America to the U.S.
MS-13 used the porous borders during the Obama administration to build its numbers and go on a reign of terror in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods in New York, Massachusetts and the Washington region.
Mr. Almonte said the U.S. has a chance to snuff out the Venezuelan gang before it metastasizes like MS-13, but it will require serious border security and interior enforcement.
“It’s important to do this before they become organized throughout the United States,” he said.
The New York Post reported this week that National Guard troops assigned to patrol migrant shelters in the state were ordered to watch for Tren de Aragua tattoos on migrants.
Mr. Almonte was particularly troubled by the revelation that Mr. Juarez-Aguilarte was still free in the U.S. after a judge ordered his deportation.
“Not only was he here but he continued to be involved in criminal activity up to and including assaulting a police officer,” Mr. Almonte said.
New York City’s sanctuary policy may have blocked city officials from communicating with ICE and knowing about the deportation order.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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