The Enforcement and Removal Operations office of ICE in New York is not happy with the way Bill De Blasio is running the city and, finally, are not afraid to say so. This is a press release from that office:

Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a Dominican national who had previously been removed from the United States on three occasions after he was released from New York City custody with an active ICE detainer in place. The man has a criminal history in the United States which includes felony re-entry and assault and several felony and misdemeanor charges.

Hector Suarez, 44, was released from local custody Dec. 30, after being arraigned in New York County Criminal Court and released on bail. ICE filed the detainer with Manhattan Central Booking Dec. 29.

If you think Suarez was just another poor and put-upon illegal, wrong

The city refuses to honor federal detention requests for what they call low-level crimes, including misdemeanors, and they don’t consider past convictions when deciding who to turn over to the feds. Inmates convicted of 170 serious or violent crimes will be turned over.

Suarez’s history includes felony convictions in 1997 for attempted drug possession conviction, in 2002 for drug possession and in 2006 for attempted assault.

De Blasio defends the city’s non-cooperation policy, saying it’s cruel to separate families over minor infractions. He has said he might expand the list of charges eligible for transfer but has offered no specifics.

This is what happens every day in sanctuary cities. Criminal illegals are arrested by local law enforcement. ICE puts a detainer on the guy so they can pick him up and deport him once local authorities are done with him. Local authorities, invariably under the thumb of liberal Democrats who have no regard for public safety and a healthy instinct for generating illegal votes, release the person. Then what happens:

ERO officers arrested Suarez Feb. 21 in New York City pursuant to a federal arrest warrant issued Feb. 17 for illegal re-entry 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.

So a federal magistrate or judge had to issue an arrest warrant and then he had to be hunted down by ICE instead of cheaply handed over to them by NYPD.

“This is the case of another criminal alien, a felon, who was released back into the streets. Politics and rhetoric are not what keep the people of this great city safe,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “ICE is committed to maintaining and strengthening its relationship with local law enforcement. We also welcome changes to the city’s present detainer policies in the interest of public safety and national security.”

Just a couple of months ago you would not have seen any thing like this. Letting illegals roam at will was the official policy of the Obama administration. Border Patrol and immigration enforcement officers were afraid to intervene in any but the most egregious cases because of career repercussions. Now we have a senior agency official letting New Yorkers know just who is to blame for crime on the streets in a lot of neighborhoods.