Newark ICE Sends Man Back To Canada After Hudson County Arrest

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in New Jersey sent a man with a “history of criminal convictions in the U.S.” back to Canada last week, authorities said.

According to ICE officials, Sebastian Rosales entered the U.S. as a nonimmigrant visitor in 1988. He was arrested in Florida in 1993 for vehicle theft and burglary, convicted and sentenced to a year and a half of probation.

“It is unknown when he departed the U.S. for Canada,” ICE stated. “He attempted to reenter the U.S. again in 2000 but was denied entry based on his past criminal conviction.”

Rosales reentered the U.S. at an unknown date and place without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official, authorities said.

According to ICE, officials became aware that Rosales was being held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny on Oct. 4, 2017 after his arrest for possession of a controlled substance near a school zone.

Six days later, authorities turned transferred Rosales to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office (ERO) in Newark. He was held in custody and released after posting bond, federal officials said.

In May 2018, the Hudson County Superior Court of New Jersey convicted Rosales of distribution of marijuana near a school zone and sentenced him to three years of probation and a fine of $1,205.

On December 1, 2018, ERO Newark officers arrested Rosales during a “targeted enforcement operation.”

In January of 2019, an immigration judge in Elizabeth ordered Rosales “removed” to Canada. Accompanied by ICE officers, Rosales was removed from the U.S. on April 3 and transferred to Canadian authorities in Montreal, officials said.

• See related article: Hudson County Won't Help ICE Flag Jailed Immigrants Under 287(G)
• See related article: Essex County Plans To Use ICE Profits To Give Inmates Lawyers

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