Alleged MS-13 associate arrested in operation near Brentwood school last week, ICE says

An alleged MS-13 associate was arrested in Brentwood last week as public schools resumed classes after the summer break, authorities said Tuesday, during an operation that created turmoil in the community.

Jamie Manual Perez Perez, 42, who was "living just steps from" a middle school in Brentwood, was arrested Sept. 3, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a news release.

The arrest took place on the first day of classes in Brentwood public schools. ICE’s presence near Brentwood High School set off alarms among residents and some officials who contended it was upsetting families as children reported to school. They asserted that people were being stopped randomly by immigration agents to check their immigration status.

ICE did not state where Perez Perez was arrested.

He was wanted in El Salvador for aggravated extortion and threats to injure a person in his home country and was being sought by Interpol, ICE said. He was in the United States illegally, the agency said.

The arrest was made after a vehicle stop conducted "in coordination with" ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency said.

"This alleged MS-13 associate resided mere feet from school property and went about his life virtually unchecked and consequence-free — until his past finally caught up with him," Ricky J. Patel, Homeland Security Investigations New York special agent in charge, said in a statement.

"Children deserve to safely go to school each day without the fear of what evil might be lurking next door," he said. "I thank HSI New York’s Long Island investigators who, alongside our ICE partners, are targeting the proliferation and complacency of vicious transnational criminal street gangs in our communities every day."

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office said they could not immediately locate any criminal records regarding Perez Perez.

ICE’s presence near schools in Brentwood on Sept. 3 and in Hempstead the next day upset many residents who were sending their children to class, according to local politicians and school officials.

Attendance in Hempstead dropped by 18% that day as word of ICE’s presence spread rapidly in the community through social media and created "hysteria," Gary Rush, Hempstead's interim superintendent of schools, said last week.

Phil Ramos, the deputy speaker of the New York State Assembly, whose district includes Brentwood, said last week his office received a "barrage" of phone calls on Sept. 3 from people saying ICE was randomly pulling motorists over to see if they were undocumented.

The Democratic assemblyman said he and others in the community support arresting gang members and other criminals but that many workers with no criminal record are getting swept up in ICE’s dragnet.

"I don’t think anybody has a problem with somebody who is a proven criminal being arrested and deported," Ramos said Tuesday. "But the operation that ICE conducted went further than just this one criminal. They were indiscriminately stopping people."

"The problem is placing that net by a school and disrupting the quality of life of our students," said Ramos, a former Suffolk County police officer and detective.

A second arrest was made in front of Brentwood High School in a spot where an organized school group of immigrant students often meet, he said. Details on that person were not immediately available.

ICE operations on Long Island have also swept up an honors student at Suffolk County Community College, a popular manager at a bagel cafe in Port Washington and a mother of five in Brentwood.

The detentions are part of what President Donald Trump said will be the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history. He contends the operation is targeting dangerous and violent criminals. White House officials in late May said they were boosting their goal of daily arrests of immigrants from 600 to at least 3,000.

Referring to Perez Perez, Judith Almodovar, ERO New York City acting field office director, said in a statement: "This MS-13 gang member and international fugitive mistakenly thought he could hide out in the United States to evade justice in his home country."

Perez Perez was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on April 15, 2019, after he illegally entered the United States, ICE said. Border Patrol issued him a notice to appear and he was later placed in removal proceedings, the agency said. He was scheduled for a hearing in February.

Perez Perez is in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States, the agency said.