Sanctuary State New York: ICE Seeks Custody of Illegal Alien Accused of Trying to Murder U.S. Attorney

A previously deported illegal alien with a criminal record is wanted by  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after he allegedly attempted to murder the United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, John A. Sarcone III.

Saul Morales-Garcia, a 40-year-old previously deported illegal alien from El Salvador, has been arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder in Albany County, New York.

According to police, on June 17, Morales-Garcia approached Sarcone as he was leaving a hotel and threatened him with a knife. Sarcone backed away from the illegal alien and made his way back inside the hotel as Morales-Garcia shouted at him in Spanish, wielding the knife.

The incident was caught on hotel security cameras.

ICE officials now say that they have lodged a detainer against Morales-Garcia, hoping to get custody of the illegal alien despite New York’s sanctuary state policy.

“On June 17, this illegal alien from El Salvador allegedly threatened a sitting U.S. Attorney from the Northern District of New York with a knife,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement:

The alien in question illegally entered our country twice, was deported, returned, and has since been committing crimes across the country. He should have never been in our country in the first place — and now, he will face attempted murder in the second-degree charges and removal. Make no mistake: Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from Americans’ communities. [Emphasis added]

In 2009, Morales-Garcia was convicted of misdemeanor petit larceny in Arlington, Virginia. He was arrested by ICE agents the following year after having been in Arlington County jail on theft charges.

At the time, a federal immigration judge ordered him removed, and he was subsequently deported from the United States by ICE agents.

Sometime after he was deported to El Salvador and December 2021, Morales-Garcia illegally crossed the southern border again and was charged in Monroe County, Georgia, with drunk driving.

In 2023, Morales-Garcia was arrested by U.S. Parks Police and charged with disorderly conduct for threatening pedestrians, being drunk in public, and possessing an open container of alcohol.

The following year, Morales-Garcia was charged in Upper Marion, Pennsylvania, with misdemeanor retail theft.

DHS will also seek a criminal complaint against Morales-Garcia for illegally re-entering the U.S. after he was deported.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.