Manhattan DA Flags Defendants For ICE, Drawing Activists' Ire

MANHATTAN, NY — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.'s office flags certain defendants for federal immigration authorities, a practice that drew fire from criminal-justice reformers on Monday.

The policy is noted in a March 2017 memo on how prosecutors should address immigration consequences for crime victims, witnesses and defendants. It says certain defendants convicted of especially grave crimes can be referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in "rare and exceptional circumstances."

"In some cases where non-citizen defendants are accused and convicted of very serious crimes, we can and should refer them to ICE for appropriate immigration proceedings," reads the memo from Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Vance's chief assistant district attorney.

The practice is unique among the city's five district attorneys, according to the New York Daily News which first reported on the policy Monday. And Vance's office has used it despite his public call last year for ICE to stop arresting undocumented immigrants at courthouses.

Such referrals are rare — there was only one last year out of the 55,000 cases the DA's office handled and the number for 2017 is believed to be "similarly low," Vance spokeswoman Emily Tuttle said. A supervisor has to be consulted before a defendant is referred to immigration authorities, she said.

"This is intended as a safety valve in the rare event that – in the course of prosecuting a serious and violent crime – public safety, the particularized facts and procedural posture of the case, and the fair administration of justice warrant such a referral," Tuttle said in a statement.

But a top lawyer at the Legal Aid Society, the city's largest legal services nonprofit, called on Vance to ditch the policy, suggesting it could hinder public safety rather than help it. Legal Aid also supports the movement to abolish ICE.

"His office tries to justify this practice under the guise of public safety, but undermining immigrant communities’ trust in the criminal justice system is really what threatens public safety," said Hasan Shafiqullah, the attorney-in-charge of the Legal Aid's Immigration Law Unit, in a statement.

The policy also drew fire from state Assemblyman Dan Quart (D-Manhattan), a former pro bono attorney who has pushed for criminal justice reforms in Albany.

"Vance strongly believes in protecting immigrants and keeping ICE out of NY courtrooms—unless it’s inconvenient to him and his case is not strong enough on the evidence his office secured," Quart said on Twitter.

Vance's office detailed one case from last year to the Daily News in which a defendant was waiting to be tried for a shooting and gang assault was referred to ICE.

The defendant's bail was reduced on an appeal and the DA's office asked ICE for an "immigration hold" because it thought he would flee, according to the paper. But ICE never had to take custody of the man because the bail decision was reversed, the Daily News reported.

Vance's office supports state legislation that would limit ICE's ability to make arrests in courthouses and protects the immigration status of undocumented crime victims and witnesses, Tuttle said.

"Our Office is widely recognized among New York’s immigrant communities as a safe place to report crime and fraud without fear of deportation, and a strong defender of sanctuary city policies," she said.

(Lead image: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is seen in May 2018. Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Town & Country)