This is why the US Immigration Service cannot deport Venezuelans who are involved in crimes

As New York City faces a wave of immigration crimes — with recent high-profile incidents injuring police officers — many are wondering why federal immigration officials aren't deporting suspected criminals more quickly.

By New York Post

But immigration experts told The Post on Tuesday that it would be difficult (legally and logistically) to deport immigrants 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 “interdictions” issued by federal agencies.

A current ICE official has asserted that sanctuary city laws are helping to fuel the latest crime wave, including an April 2 incident in which two Venezuelan immigrants accused of shoplifting in Manhattan defended themselves when they were arrested.

The NYPD, the official revealed, “does not interact with immigration.”

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

If ICE detains someone, the agency can begin deportation proceedings very quickly and, in some cases, do so after conviction.

But experts say the company is often selective about who it goes after. For example, ICE can arrest people for being in the country illegally, and did so thousands of times in the Big Apple last year, according to The City.

But if an immigrant is arrested for a more serious crime, the agency usually waits for the legal system to do its work, says Robert Osuna, a criminal defense attorney in Manhattan.

“If they are not punished, [ICE] Usually they don't accept them because it becomes a huge logistical headache,” Osuna said.

“If ICE took everyone who was on Rikers Island and subject to deportation proceedings and placed them in immigration detention, local prosecutors would have a nightmare trying to catch them every time they filed.” [para la corte]”.

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

“They're allowed to keep their priorities,” Osuna said.

“And ICE has been targeting these petty criminals. So? I don't know. But it's increasing as the election approaches,” he said.

Two particular sanctuary laws have proven particularly controversial.

One prevents someone from complying with ICE requests to deport them unless they have been convicted of specific violent crimes and a judge signs an order deporting them.

Another prohibits the use of city resources to enforce immigration laws.

But even though ICE has created the collars, it's still difficult to return them to countries like Venezuela, which continues to return deportation flights that return its own citizens, former ICE field office director John Fabricator told The Post.

“Because Venezuela is an intransigent country that refuses to accept its citizens, there is no deterrent for criminals who enter the country illegally,” said Fabricator, who is now running for Congress in Colorado's Sixth District.

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