Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang member nabbed in NY 2 years after Border Patrol released him into US

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in New York City apprehended a Tren de Aragua gang member last week who was first encountered at the border two years ago.

ICE officials said local sanctuary jurisdictions twice ignored detainer arrests and released Javier Jose Albornoz Marchan, 22, back into the community — despite his pattern of criminal behavior — before his most recent arrest on Staten Island.

“Sanctuary jurisdictions undermine public safety and put our communities at unnecessary risk,” said ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo. 

“It is unconscionable this felon was running free in New York for the last three weeks when he could have immediately been apprehended upon release from local custody.”

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Albornoz, a Venezuelan national, was one of eight illegal immigrants busted for weapons and drug related offenses in the Bronx on March 27, ICE officials said. He was convicted by the Bronx County Supreme Court of criminal possession of a firearm.

According to a news release, U.S. Border Patrol first encountered Albornoz near El Paso, Texas on Sept. 22, 2022. He was released into the United States because the detention center in El Paso lacked capacity to hold him.

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His first subsequent run-in with law enforcement came on June 18, 2023, when the Moonachie Police Department arrested Albornoz for shoplifting. The Municipal Court of Teterboro remanded Albornoz’s charges to a lower court and released him three days later.

On Jan. 6, 2024, Albornoz was again arrested by the Woodbridge Police Department in New Jersey on charges of shoplifting and manufacturing burglary tools. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) issued an immigration detainer for Albornoz on Jan. 8, but local officials in North Brunswick ignored the detainer and released him from custody without notifying ERO, officials said.

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Albornoz was arrested again by NYPD on March 27, this time for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree: loaded firearm; criminal possession weapon in the second degree: loaded firearm on school grounds; criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell; and acting in manner to injure child less than 17.

ERO filed a second immigration detainer for Albornoz with the New York Department of Corrections at Rikers Island on April 1, according to the release. 

Albornoz was convicted of criminal possession of a firearm on Sept. 5 and sentenced to six months of imprisonment. However, ICE said he was released once again, despite the active detainer, without notification to ERO.

Weeks later on Sept. 27 an FBI task force alerted ERO in New York City to possible threats allegedly made by Albornoz to local law enforcement and asked for help to locate and arrest him. He was taken into ICE custody the very next day.

Genalo chastised New York City and state leaders over their sanctuary policies and urged that local law enforcement be permitted to cooperate with ICE to remove criminal aliens. 

“Thankfully, through the due diligence of our courageous officers and our law enforcement partners, this individual was swiftly apprehended and denied the ability to reoffend,” he said.