Federal judge says ICE agents lied and falsified records after wrongful Bronx arrests

A federal judge in the Eastern District of New York has ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents illegally arrested two men in the Bronx this spring and then offered false testimony and falsified records to justify it, Gothamist and Newsweek reported.

In a 28-page opinion issued Monday, Judge Gary R. Brown, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote that the agents' claims of mistaken identity "prove baseless" and that they "falsified official records trying to conceal their illegal actions."

What happened on Hull Avenue

On May 6, at least five ICE officers in three unmarked vehicles watched a residential building on Hull Avenue in Norwood, according to testimony described by Gothamist. They were looking for two men: one with a removal order and motor vehicle misdemeanor charges, and one with no criminal history who had missed an appointment at an immigration office.

Instead they tackled and detained Angel Jesus Almonte, a Dominican immigrant who lived in the building, and minutes later arrested Jeury Concepcion, a U.S. citizen, on the same block. Concepcion suffered head injuries that required stitches, the ruling said. ICE's own records listed Almonte as 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, while the man agents said they confused him with was listed at 5-foot-7 and 110 pounds, Newsweek reported.

What the judge found

• Three officers testified they saw Almonte make hand-to-hand drug sales. Brown said the claim bore "all the hallmarks of coordinated fabrication." No drugs, cash or paraphernalia were found.
• An arrest warrant said database checks confirmed Almonte lacked legal status, but the supervisor who signed it acknowledged that all five searches had come back negative.
• The team leader certified under oath that he served the warrant on Almonte and read it to him in Spanish. He admitted at the hearing that this was false.

Brown also faulted the officers' training, noting the team leader had two years as a deportation officer and no prior law enforcement experience beyond work as an NYPD dispatcher.

What's next

The judge gave government lawyers 21 days to lay out how ICE will make sure future enforcement is lawful and to propose remedies for the false testimony. If the response falls short, he said he could impose sanctions, refer the matter to other authorities or use his contempt powers. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newsweek the matter "will be litigated in court, not through the media." Both men have since been released.

The ruling was issued days before Thursday's ICE shooting in Marble Hill, as the agency's tactics in New York face growing scrutiny.