The Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) blasted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Metropolis Mayor Zohran Mamdani over “sanctuary” insurance policies, demanding the 2 honor an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer for an unlawful migrant convicted of raping a corpse.
Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, 44, was sentenced to 5 years in jail on Wednesday for sexually assaulting and raiding the pockets of 37-year-old Jorge Gonzalez whereas he sat useless on the R practice close to Decrease Manhattan’s Whitehall Road station, in line with the New York Publish.
The Mexican nationwide pled responsible to the fees.
“This sicko robbed and raped the corpse of a useless man on a New York Metropolis subway,” stated Lauren Bis, performing assistant secretary for public affairs on the DHS. “ICE lodged a detainer asking Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York sanctuary politicians to decide to not releasing this felony unlawful alien after his jail sentence. We’d like cooperation from sanctuary politicians to make sure wicked criminals like this should not launched into our communities.”
On April 8, 2025, Gonzalez boarded the practice at round 7:52 p.m., in line with the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace. Authorities stated he stayed in the identical spot for a number of hours earlier than dropping consciousness at round 10:48 p.m. Jeronimo-Rojas obtained on the practice a number of minutes later and at 11:45 p.m., he started violating Gonzalez whereas he was unresponsive, prosecutors stated.
DHS lodged an immigration detainer for Jeronimo-Rojas on April 30, 2025, the company solely advised Fox Information Digital. The division is continuous to demand that this detainer is honored by New York state and metropolis officers on the conclusion of his sentence.
Fox Information Digital reached out to the places of work of Hochul and Mamdani for added remark.
Hochul oversees state legal guidelines that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, whereas Mamdani is accountable for how metropolis companies, together with the New York Police Division and the Division of Correction, implement town’s sanctuary insurance policies.
In a press release to Fox Information Digital, DHS stated New York state launched 6,947 unlawful immigrants that had been convicted of crimes final yr between Jan. 20 and Dec. 1.
Jeronimo-Rojas has illegally entered the USA 4 occasions between 1998 and 1999, in line with DHS. Every time, he voluntarily returned to Mexico after encounters with U.S. Border Patrol.
Jeronimo-Rojas then re-entered the nation “for FIFTH time at an unknown date and site,” DHS stated.
Roughly three weeks after committing the crime, Jeronimo-Rojas turned himself in to the NYPD. Per The Publish, Jeronimo-Rojas acknowledged he was caught on surveillance footage however denied the rape and the theft.
Jeronimo-Rojas didn’t communicate at his sentencing listening to and took a plea deal that can embrace 15 years of supervised launch after his preliminary five-year jail sentence.
Gonzalez, his sufferer, got here to the U.S. about 20 years in the past to work and help his family members in Mexico, his household advised The Publish.
“He wasn’t only a random particular person, he was a father, he was a household man, he cared about his household in Mexico,” his 38-year-old spouse Teresa advised the outlet.
“He did building, he labored in kitchens, he labored as a waiter, he was a busboy. You already know, something you actually may do to attempt to get forward,” stated Teresa, who was separated from him for six years.
