BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested Jesus Romero-Hernandez, a 27-year-old Mexican citizen illegally present in the United States, after the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office refused to honor a federal arrest warrant and released him from custody, officials said.
Romero was apprehended on January 30 in Ithaca, New York, by ICE officers in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service. He had previously been removed from the United States six times between July and September 2016. On one occasion, the Southern District of Texas, McAllen Division, convicted him of illegal re-entry and sentenced him to time served.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York charged Romero on January 8, 2024, with illegally reentering the country after a prior removal. At the time, he was in the custody of the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office on unrelated New York State assault charges. ICE issued a federal arrest warrant, signed by a U.S. magistrate judge, requesting that he be held for federal immigration proceedings. However, the sheriff’s office declined to comply and released him.