Brooklyn Boro

Former gang member sentenced to time served expected to be deported

June 5, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Hon. Kiyo A. Matsumoto. Photo by Jennifer MacFarlane
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An undocumented immigrant who had previously been deported is expected to be deported again after being caught after hours in a Bushwick park.

Alejandro Luna, a Puebla, Mexico native, was stopped by two NYPD officers in a Bushwick playground on Jan. 10 and was arrested for walking through the area after hours. On Monday, he was sentenced to four months time served for illegal re-entry to the U.S. and is expected to be deported.

“He was arrested for a crime that only poor people get arrested for,” Luna’s attorney, Len Kamdang said in Brooklyn federal court. Kamdang then assured Judge Kiyo Matsumoto that Luna is a “good hombre.”

On Feb. 9, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents busted into Luna’s Bushwick home, where he was relaxing with his partner, and rearrested him to be held without bond. The raid came less than month after President Donald Trump signed the Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements executive order, which caused ICE agents to crack down harder on undocumented immigrants.

A complaint and arrest warrant were signed for Luna’s arrest two days after the order.

“I came here to work and not to hurt nobody,” Luna said to Matsumoto. “I’m so sorry.”

Luna, 31, left behind two sons in Puebla that are being taken care of by a grandparent. Having been the sole provider of his children, Luna sent them $1,200 a month from New York.

“He doesn’t even know how they are surviving,” Kamdang said about Luna’s sons.

Luna was previously deported from the U.S. after an Oct. 12, 2006 conviction for breaking into a woman’s home and robbing her at gunpoint as part of a street gang. He served two years in prison, followed by three years’ probation, and was eventually deported on Dec. 26, 2007.

Leaving behind the gang life, Luna illegally re-entered the country to support his children by moving boxes and making deliveries in a Gramercy Park liquor store.

He pleaded guilty to illegal re-entry to the U.S. on March 20, 2017.

ICE agents have deported hundreds of undocumented immigrants since Trump signed his executive order, creating a rising fear among the immigration population across the nation.

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on April 24 a new policy to protect undocumented immigrants in Brooklyn who face harsh consequences for minor offenses. He hired two immigration attorneys to train his entire staff on immigration issues to avoid unnecessary “collateral consequences.”

Luna will be leaving behind his current partner and two siblings who reside in the U.S. and returning to his two sons and three other siblings in Mexico. In possibly the last moment he would see his partner in the United States, Luna looked back at her as he was escorted out of the courtroom.

As the immigration courts are inundated with cases, Matsumoto made sure that ICE will be informed of Luna’s sentencing, readying him for his probable deportation.

 

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