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Josue Orellana, 18, was brought Thursday to the Bergen County Jail following extradition proceedings in Pennsylvania, where he was captured on Sept. 11 by a strike force led by detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office.
The Salvadoran national is charged with attempted murder and a pair of weapons counts.
The day after his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on Orellana, which asks that he remain in custody until his case is completed or federal agents take custody of him for a deportation hearing.
ICE places detainers -- otherwise known as "immigration holds" -- on immigrants believed to be illegally living in the U.S. Federal immigration judges determine whether they'll be deported.
Sometimes the federal government waits for a convicted defendant to serve out his or her term before a hearing is held in U.S. District Court. Other times deportation proceedings will begin earlier.Some sheriffs in New Jersey recently began ignoring federal detainer requests.
New Jersey Attorney Gurbir S. Grewal clarified matters last November with a directive that, in part, prohibits police and jail operators from holding a detainee arrested for a minor crime “past the time he or she would otherwise be released from custody simply because ICE has submitted an immigration detainer.”
"With respect to detainees charged with violent or serious offenses – such as murder, rape, arson, assault, bias crimes, and domestic violence offenses – New Jersey law enforcement and correction officials may notify ICE of the detainee’s upcoming release, but may continue to detain the individual only until 11:59 p.m. that day."
Given the severity of the crime in this case, the possibility exists that judges would order that Orellana remain held.
Authorities nabbed Orellana in an apartment above a tattoo parlor in a Bucks County PA strip mall a little over seven miles outside Trenton and 82 miles from Cliffside Park, authorities said. Investigators executed two search warrants, one at the apartment in Levittown and the other assisted by a Hudson County SWAT team at Orellana's 56th Street home off Hudson Avenue, authorities said.Orellana was with at least a half-dozen other members of a gang who chased a 24-year-old ex-con, apparently in a dispute over drugs the night of Aug. 22, a law enforcement source told Daily Voice.
The chase went east on Walker Street and then through a Third Street alley to Second Street, where the victim was struck by a small-caliber bullet that went right through his shoulder, authorities said.
The victim -- who was treated at Hackensack University Medical Center before being released -- had turned onto Walker Street from Anderson Avenue with a fellow felon when the gang began to chase them, according to a police report.
Investigators collected surveillance video to help identify those involved, all of whom they said appeared to be in their mid-teens to early 20s.
Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella thanked the Cliffside Park, Fairview, West New York and Bristol Township police departments, the Hudson County Regional SWAT Team and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office for their assistance.
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