NEW YORK — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officers arrested Grachowe Harrichand, 43, Wednesday, Oct. 9. Harrichand, a Guyanese national previously ordered removed from the U.S, was twice released from local law enforcement custody with an active detainer due to New York City’s sanctuary policies.
On March 6, 2019, Harrichand was arrested by the New York Police Department (NYPD) for the charges of sexual abuse, 1st: contact with victim less than 13, sexual abuse 2nd: sexual contact with person less than 14 years-old, sexual abuse 3rd: subject another person to sex contact without consent, forcible touching: touch sexual/intimate parts of another person, act in manner injure child less than 17 years-old, and aggravated harassment. ERO deportation officers lodged a detainer with local authorities. On June 3, Harrichand pleaded guilty to Act In Manner Injure Child, and was sentenced to six months in custody. The detainer was not honored and Harrichand was released from the custody of the New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC).
On July 5, Harrichand was again arrested by the NYPD for the charges of sexual abuse 3rd: subject another person to sex contact without consent, forcible touching, act in manner injure child less than 17 years-old, and harassment. ERO deportation officers lodged a detainer with the NYCDOC, but it was not honored and he was later released from custody. Those charges are currently pending.
“Harrichand is a repeat offender when it comes to crimes against a child. Yet, he was released back into the community over and over,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ERO New York. “Time after time the public is presented with child sex offenders who have been released from local custody to potentially commit another crime. It’s frightening that the City is more concerned about the release of a convicted criminal alien, who was ordered deported, than the victims of his crimes. As the City’s sanctuary policies fail to protect the citizens of the five boroughs, our commitment at ICE is to public safety, and we will continue to uphold our duty of arresting and removing criminal aliens from our communities.”
On Oct 9, ERO deportation officers arrested him in South Richmond Hill, New York. With a final order of removal in place from 2004, he is currently detained in ICE custody pending his removal to Guyana.