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Ernesto Lara Rojo, a 49-year-old Cuban national who lives in West New York, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses and sent to the Bergen County Jail early Monday evening, April 1.
ICE immediately issued a detainer on Rojo so he can be brought before a federal immigration judge in Newark to determine his residency status in the United States, jail records show.
Rojo was with a group of people in an apartment just off Palisade Avenue when he retrieved a razor blade from a bathroom and -- seemingly without warning -- slashed the victim in front of the others shortly before 5 p.m., responders said.
"It was a deep slice right across the throat," one of them said.
Police seized the married, 6-foot-4-inch Rojo, who witnesses said remained at the scene, and turned him over to detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Major Crimes Unit.
The victim was transported to HMH Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen with what Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said were life- threatening injuries.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer on Rojo, which are sought whenever immigrants suspected of living here illegally are jailed.
If a local judge in Hackensack orders his release for some reason -- say, under bail reform -- ICE has requested 48-hour notice so that immigration agents can take custody of Rojo before that can happen.
An immigration judge will at some point hold a hearing in federal court in Newark to determine whether Rojo should be deported – and if so, whether it's before or after he's prosecuted in Bergen County.
Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton has honored all detainer requests for defendants who've been charged with or convicted of felonies.
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