Illegal immigrant charged in 13-year-old NYC girl’s rape previously caught by Border Patrol, released into US
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to Fox News that the Ecuadorean illegal immigrant charged with raping a 13-year-old girl in New York City was caught by Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas, in June 2021, then released into the U.S. with a future court date.
In addition, the agency confirmed in a statement to Fox News' Bill Melugin that in February 2022 an immigration judge ordered Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, 25, to be deported, but he never was.
Inga-Landi is part of ICE's nondetained docket, which Fox News reported this week has exploded to 7.4 million cases, with each ICE officer currently having to manage an average of 7,000 cases.
On June 18, the New York City Police Department arrested Inga-Landi as a suspect for the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in Queens. He's also facing several other charges.
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Surveillance video of the area led police to identify Inga-Landi as the primary suspect after tips about his whereabouts came flooding in.
He was eventually arrested after a group of neighbors recognized him from a wanted poster. About 10 people held him down until police arrived to arrest him in the early morning hours Tuesday.
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On that same day, Enforcement and Removal Operations New York City lodged an immigration detainer against his release.
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Inga-Landi was not a stranger to law enforcement.
The migrant had several low-level prior offenses, including subway fare jumping and drinking in public. Police said he was also involved in a domestic violence incident in which no charges were filed, and he had an unspecified arrest in Texas.
Fox News Digital's Michael Lee contributed to this report.