DHS Requests New York Officials Honor Detainer for Convicted Migrant

The Department of Homeland Security asked New York Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to honor an immigration detainer for Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, a Mexican national sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to raping the corpse of a man on a subway train.

Felix Jeronimo-Rojas, 44, received the sentence on Wednesday for sexually assaulting and taking items from Jorge Gonzalez, 37, while Gonzalez sat unresponsive on an R train near Whitehall Street station in Lower Manhattan. m. m.

DHS lodged the detainer on April 30, 2025, and continues to request that state and city officials honor it at the end of Jeronimo-Rojas's sentence. Officials said the department needs cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions to prevent the release of individuals convicted of serious crimes.

Jeronimo-Rojas entered the United States illegally four times between 1998 and 1999 and was returned to Mexico each time after encounters with Border Patrol, according to DHS. He re-entered a fifth time at an unknown date and location.

York state released 6,947 individuals convicted of crimes who were in the country illegally between January 20 and December 1 of last year, DHS said. Jeronimo-Rojas turned himself in to police roughly three weeks after the April 2025 incident. Gonzalez had lived in the United States for about 20 years and worked in construction, kitchens, and restaurants to support family in Mexico, his wife told the New York Post.

Jeronimo-Rojas took a plea deal that includes five years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release.