ICE lodges detainer against illegal alien who murdered a teenage girl after she rejected his sexual advances

NEW YORK - ICE New York City lodged an immigration detainer with the New York City Department of Corrections against the release of 38-year-old illegal alien Jose Edwin Cruz Gomez on Sept. 15. Cruz is an illegal alien from Honduras who was arrested by the New York City Police Department for murder, attempted murder, assault, vehicular manslaughter and several other felony crimes after he mowed down a 16-year-old, her mother, and her stepfather with his vehicle after the teenager refused his drunken, lewd advances on Sept. 13. The collision killed the young girl and injured her mother.

"Another young family is dealing with an unimaginable and all-too-preventable tragedy due to soft-on-crime sanctuary policies and prior open-border policies that let criminal aliens pour into our country with impunity," said Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons. "The days of criminal aliens being given carte blanche to harm innocent people are over. These violent offenders will face the full force of the law and then be expeditiously removed from the U.S."

Cruz illegally entered the U.S. near Nogales, Arizona, Nov. 10, 2004. On April 20, 2005, an immigration judge denied his applications for asylum and withholding of removal, granting him voluntary departure until June 20, 2005, with an alternate order of removal. On May 20, 2005, Cruz filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals, but it dismissed his appeal, vacated his voluntary departure, and remanded his case back to immigration court, where a judge ordered him removed from the U.S.

At some point thereafter, Cruz illegally reentered the U.S. ICE officers encountered him on April 29, 2013, after his arrest on Long Island for DUI. ICE officers took custody of him the same day pursuant to an immigration detainer and reinstatement of his deportation order. He was released from ICE detention on July 1, 2013, for enrollment into the Alternatives to Detention Program. Cruz subsequently absconded and all attempts to locate him were unsuccessful.

Cruz racked up additional arrests for possession of a forged instrument (October 2024); disorderly conduct: creating hazardous or physically offensive conditions; attempted driving while; and attempted operation of a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .08% or more (January 2025). Each time, he was released from custody before ICE could lodge a detainer or ICE officers were prevented from apprehending him because he didn't meet the Biden Administration's priority for immigration enforcement.

Members of the public can report suspected violations of U.S. immigration law and other suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.