FBI officials in Newark, New Jersey, reported on Sunday that two of four fugitive illegal immigrant detainees had been apprehended.
The four convicts, whom the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identified as “public safety threats,” escaped from Delaney Hall, a privately maintained ICE detention facility, on the evening of June 12.
The FBI reported the arrests of Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada on Sunday, but Franklin Norberto Bautista Reyes and Andres Felipe Pineda Mogollon are still at large. The four suspects are from Honduras.
DHS is offering a $10,000 prize for information that leads to their arrest.
Bautista-Reyes unlawfully entered the United States in 2021 during the Biden administration and was arrested on May 3 by the Wayne Township, New Jersey, Police Department for aggravated assault, attempted bodily injury, terroristic threats, and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Sandoval-Lopez unlawfully entered the United States as a child in 2019, and was arrested by the Passaic Police Department in October for unauthorized possession of a pistol, as well as on February 15 for aggravated assault.
Castaneda-Lozada unlawfully entered the United States in 2022 and was arrested by the Hammonton Police Department on May 15 on charges of burglary, theft, and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Pineda-Mogollon entered the United States in 2023 and overstayed his tourist visa. On April 25, the New York City Police Department arrested him for larceny, and on May 21, the Union, New Jersey, Police Department arrested him for residential burglary, conspiracy to conduct residential burglary, and possession of burglary tools.
According to immigration attorney Mustafa Cetin, approximately 50 detainees at the private institution became agitated because meals were delayed and pulled down a dormitory wall.
“It’s about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive and it turned violent,” according to Cetin.
On June 12, about 9 p.m., a group of protesters halted an SUV from entering an ancillary gate at Delaney Hall, forcing it to return inside the institution.
DHS disputed reports of widespread unrest at the facility, stating that the private detention center “remains dedicated to providing high-quality services, including around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs.”
