NEW YORK — Deportation Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a once removed Dominican national with convictions in the U.S. after he was released from New York City custody with an active ICE detainer and federal criminal warrant. The man has a criminal history in the U.S. which includes a felony conviction of criminal sale of a controlled substance and the current felony charge of illegal re-entry.

Joselin Medina, 58, a citizen and national of Dominican Republic, was previously removed from the United States in 2002. He has a past felony conviction for criminal sale of a controlled substance and a pending misdemeanor charge and felony re-entry charge. Medina was released from the New York City Department of Corrections on June 15, after being arraigned in the Bronx Criminal Court and released on bail. After ERO Deportation Officers determined probable cause to believe Medina is removable from the United States, they lodged a detainer along with a copy of Medina’s federal criminal warrant of arrest with the New York Police Department (NYPD), Bronx Central Booking on June 12. ERO deportation officers arrested Medina on June 16 at the Bronx Criminal Court in New York.

"Even a federal criminal warrant issued by a United States Magistrate is not enough for the city of New York to turn over a convicted felon to ICE. If only New York had cooperated with ICE instead of releasing Medina to the street, there would have been no need to go to a courthouse to locate and arrest him,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “It is unfathomable that New York would create such a public safety risk for the sake of political expediency.”

Medina originally entered the United States at an unknown date and location. On Sept. 18, 1995, Medina adjusted his status to that of a Lawful Permanent Resident through marriage. On April 24, 2001 Medina applied for admission to enter the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident through San Juan International Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Due to his Aug. 1, 2000 felony conviction of the crime of attempted criminal sale of control substance in which he was given a conditional discharge, Medina was released on his own recognizance pending a report date for deferred inspection. Medina failed to report for his scheduled deferred inspection appointment.

On July 18, 2002, Medina was encountered at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Queens, New York, and served with a Notice to Appear in front of an immigration judge. Medina was then detained at the Middlesex County Jail, New Brunswick, New Jersey. On Aug. 20, 2002, Medina was ordered removed to the Dominican Republic by an Immigration Judge in Newark New Jersey. Medina was removed from the United States to the Dominican Republic in October 2002. Medina subsequently illegally re-entered the United States at an unknown place and date.

On June 12, 2017, Medina was arrested by the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for pending misdemeanor charges and was arraigned in the Bronx Criminal Court.

ERO deportation officers arrested Medina June 16 at the Bronx Criminal Court, New York pursuant to a federal arrest warrant for illegal reentry after removal subsequent to the commission and conviction for an aggravated felony offense. He was processed and later transported to federal court for an appearance before a judge. He is now in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service with charges pending. Depending on the alien’s criminal history, an alien who illegally reenters the United States, after having been previously removed, commits a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.

In fiscal year (FY) 2016, ICE removed or returned 240,255 individuals. Of this total, 174,923 were apprehended while, or shortly after, attempting to illegally enter the United States. The remaining 65,332 were apprehended in the interior of the United States, and the vast majority were convicted criminals.