NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers have arrested a Jamaican with pending felony charges following his release despite an active detainer.

An immigration detainer is a tool used by ICE and US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials when the agency identifies potentially deportable individuals who are held in jails or prisons nationwide. 


Typically, the agency said, detainers are issued by an authorised immigration official or local police officer designated to act as an immigration official under section 287 (g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Yesterday, ICE said the Jamaican — Najee Antonio Clarke —was arrested on June 16 outside the Queens County courthouse and is currently in ICE custody

According to ICE, Clarke entered the US on June 17, 2010, at John F Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York “as a B-2 visitor for pleasure and was authorised to remain until December 16, 2010, but failed to leave upon expiration of the waiver.

“He has current charges pending in New York and was released from ICE custody with an active detainer,” the immigration enforcement agency said.

Clarke was first arrested by the Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Department (MTAPD) in New York on May 6.

The ICE said he was identified as a non-immigrant overstay by ERO deportation officers on May 7, and a detainer was lodged against him with New York’s Rikers Island Correctional Facility.

Clarke was subsequently released on bail, and the detainer was not honoured, said ICE.

In fiscal year 2016, ICE said it removed or returned 240,255 individuals.

Of this total, it said174,923 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, ICE said.