Two undocumented immigrants were arrested separately by officers with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they had been released from Middlesex County custody, despite the latter failing to honor previously lodged ICE detainers on the individuals concerned while they were still being held.
An immigration detainer was lodged on Mexican citizen, Aurelio Hernandez Cortez with the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on 18 May. He was released from custody the same day without notification to the agency. Cortez currently faces a criminal charge in the county. On 22 May, ICE also lodged a detainer with the same facility on Indian citizen, Maulik Gajjar, who was likewise released the same day and who also faces state criminal charges.
Gajjar was arrested by Enforcement Removal Operations officer in Newark outside his Iselin home, on 7 June. The following day, officers with the same organization also took Hernandez Cortez into custody outside his Perth Amboy home. Both Gajjar and Hernandez Cortez are undocumented immigrants with no legal status in the US and will remain in custody with ICE until removal proceedings can formally begin.
John Tsoukaris, the director of the Newark field office of Enforcement Removal Operations, says the US must safeguard the integrity of its immigration system and that one of the main ICE priorities is the removal of undocumented immigrants, particularly those with criminal histories. He accused uncooperative county jails of endangering the safety of their own communities.