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A Cuban citizen identified as José Antonio Andreo-Quezada was released from Rikers Island prison in New York despite having a criminal record that includes murder and robbery.
Subsequently, he had to be arrested again for violating his probation, in a case that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses to criticize "sanctuary city" policies that limit cooperation with ICE.
According to a report from the New York Post, Andreo-Quezada is an illegal immigrant with a criminal record for homicide, theft, disorderly conduct, possession of stolen property, dangerous drugs, robbery, burglary, and assault.
Despite that history, he was released from Rikers Island and then arrested again for violating probation, at which point ICE immediately filed a detainer request, dated August 16.
The case of the Cuban appears in a broader list released by the DHS regarding immigrants with violent backgrounds who, according to the agency, have been released in New York "due to sanctuary laws."
The report mentions that 6,947 criminals have reportedly been released from city jails in the last year despite having active detainment orders from ICE requesting their surrender to federal authorities to initiate deportation processes.
The DHS argues that these restrictions on cooperation between local law enforcement and federal agencies allow “murderers to go free” and that many others are about to be released.
As an additional example, the agency cited the case of Anastacio Tejada Almonte, a Dominican citizen with a history that includes homicide and violent offenses, who—according to DHS—was released on July 27 despite an ICE detainer that had been in place since May.
In the same sequence of events, the DHS also mentioned Alex Jareth Martínez-Ávila, a Honduran immigrant with multiple charges, who was reportedly released despite an ICE detainer issued on May 26, and was subsequently arrested again for homicide and robbery, after which ICE issued a new detainer on September 22, according to the official account.
The DHS report is part of a broader political discourse on public safety and immigration.
The agency claims that ICE, under the Trump administration, has intensified efforts to apprehend and deport violent offenders, while blaming sanctuary policies for limiting federal capacity to hold individuals with criminal records once they leave local correctional facilities.
Cubans with violent crimes
In the specific case of José Antonio Andreo-Quezada, the official report does not provide additional details about when he entered the United States, how long he was detained at Rikers Island, or what exactly the violation of probation consisted of, but it does present him as a high-profile example to argue that when local authorities release individuals with a criminal history and do not hand them over to ICE, the federal government ultimately finds itself compelled to pursue them again to apprehend them and reactivate their immigration process.
Another Cuban with an active deportation order, was released from ICE custody in January 2025 by the Biden administration, on the grounds that "there was no significant likelihood of deportation in the foreseeable future," due to Cuba's lack of cooperation on immigration matters.
The man, identified as Yordanis Cobos-Martínez, 37 years old, was arrested in Dallas following a brutal machete murder that ended with the decapitation of a motel manager in front of his wife and child.
The suspect also had a criminal history in the United States that includes charges for false imprisonment in California, indecency with a minor in Texas (dismissed), vehicle theft in Florida (dismissed), and carjacking (for which he was acquitted, although convicted of false imprisonment).
Cobos-Martínez was arrested shortly after the crime while walking armed on the sidewalk in front of a nearby store. The police noted that, despite carrying a machete, he was taken into custody without the use of lethal force.
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