Nassau Residents Protest Deportation Of Salvadorian Immigrant

Gathered in front of the Nassau County Police Headquarters on Wednesday morning, demonstrators protested the deportation of a Salvadorian man who was turned over to ICE by the Nassau County Police Department after a traffic stop earlier this month, which they say went against established police practice.

Denis Guerra-Guerra, a Hempstead resident, was stopped while driving in Roosevelt on Aug. 7 for a routine traffic stop by Nassau County Police. He was arrested, detained and eventually deported by ICE. Guerra-Guerra was a baker and a leader at his local church, Newsday reported, and community members were shocked and outraged by his deportation.

Immigration advocates are worried that Guerra-Guerra's deportation could signal a change in policy for the Nassau police or have a chilling effect on the immigrant community that could make them afraid to contact the police for help or to report crimes.

According to the police department, it is its policy to not inquire into a person's legal status unless they are arrested for a crime, which Guerra-Guerra was not. However, Nassau police released a statement Wednesday afternoon explaining why he was detained and deported.

Police said that, when he was pulled over for a traffic infraction, Guerra-Guerra was driving an unregistered car from Illinois and did not have a driver's license on him. He gave police his Salvadorian passport as identification.

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"Officer’s conducted an investigation to determine if he indeed had a New York State driver’s license," Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said in a statement. "It was discovered through DMV that an 'Outstanding Administrative Warrant of Removal from the United States' was in effect. Additionally, defendant Guerra-Guerra was in possession of a razor blade knife. However, this charge was voided at the precinct since it did not meet the criteria of the penal law offense."

The police went on to say that, after further investigation, they discovered that Guerra-Guerra was employed at a business in Mineola under a false identity and was using the social security number of a resident from California, as well as the alien identification number of a New Jersey resident.

"These are all crimes and are thus in violation of NYS Penal Law and Federal Law," Ryder said.

Ryder added that the police department complied with federal law and handed Guerra-Guerra over to ICE. It was that agency's decision to deport him, not the police department's.

Photo Courtesy Noticia Long Island