NYC Hands Teen Convicted of Assault on NYPD Officers to ICE

This image from video provided by the Office of the Manhattan District Attorney shows illegal immigrants attacking New York City Police Department officers in Times Square, on Jan. 27, 2024. Manhattan District Attorney via AP

An illegal immigrant convicted earlier this year for his involvement in an assault on two police officers in New York was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the city honored a detainer request, the law enforcement agency said on Oct. 16.

The city’s sanctuary status usually limits compliance with ICE detainer requests.

Darwin Andres Gomez-Izquiel, 19, was arrested by officers from the ICE’s Criminal Apprehension Program in New York after being released by the New York City Department of Corrections, ICE said in a statement.

Gomez-Izquiel remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, the agency said.

The Venezuelan national was convicted in July by the New York County Supreme Court of assault in the second degree with “intent to cause injury to an officer/fireman/EMT” and sentenced to one year in prison for his participation in “the widely publicized gang assault,” ICE said.

The charge was handed down after he allegedly joined a group of illegal immigrants in attacking two police officers in Times Square in January, as the officers attempted to disperse a disorderly group.

Prosecutors said several individuals in the group repeatedly kicked and punched the officers as they were attempting to take an individual into custody, resulting in them sustaining minor injuries.

According to prosecutors, Gomez-Izquiel grabbed one of the officers and kicked the other.

The incident was caught on camera and the footage circulated widely on social media.

In addition to being charged with assault in the second degree in connection with the incident, Gomez-Izquiel was also charged with obstruction of governmental administration.

He was released one day after the attack without bail only to be arrested again just weeks later for his alleged role in what police said was a coordinated assault and robbery at a Macy’s store in Queens.

Gomez-Izquiel was charged with robbery and petit larceny in connection to that incident, in which he and a group of other individuals allegedly stole from the retail store and assaulted an employee.

ICE said it lodged an immigration detainer request with the New York City Department of Corrections’ Rikers Custody Management Unit against Gomez-Izquiel when he was arrested in January.

A detainer request is a notification to local law enforcement to hold a certain person for the purpose of future deportation.

New York’s sanctuary status laws usually limit cooperation with federal agencies including compliance with ICE detainer requests.

In a still from video, a group of illegal immigrants attack two New York Police Department officers outside a shelter near Times Square, on Jan. 27, 2024. New York Police Department

Typically, such requests are ignored, unless they involve individuals on the federal terrorist watch list or those convicted of a serious or violent crime, due to a 2014 law drastically limiting New York City’s cooperation with federal immigration officials.

Those laws, enacted under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, were meant to ensure due process and cement protections for all residents regardless of immigration status.

According to ICE, Gomez-Izquiel was first arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Rio Grande Valley, Texas, in August 2023 after illegally crossing the border into the United States.

Border Patrol processed the teenager after serving him with an order of expedited removal but he voluntarily withdrew his application for admission into the county two days later and returned to Mexico, ICE said.

In October, border agents with the Del Rio Sector encountered Gomez-Izquiel again and he was handed a notice to appear before an immigration judge in June 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee.

ICE said the teenager failed to show up in court in June.

In a statement announcing Gomez-Izquiel’s arrest, ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo described Gomez-Izquiel as a “criminal and threat to the public servants, residents and businesses of New York City.”

“We will not allow our communities to become safe havens for noncitizens who refuse to abide our laws,” Genalo said. “ERO New York City will continue to work with unending determination to apprehend and remove these violent criminal offenders.”

Matthew Lysiak contributed to this report.