ICE Lodges Detainer for Serial Criminal Illegal Alien Who Attempted to Murder a New York U.S. Attorney

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer on Saul Morales-Garcia, a criminal illegal alien, who has been charged with second degree attempted murder against U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, John A. Sarcone III, earlier this week. Morales-Garcia lunged at Sarcone with a knife while yelling aggressively in a foreign language.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Office arrested Saul Morales-Garcia on June 17, and he was charged with attempted murder in the second degree, menacing with a weapon, and criminal possession of a weapon.

Saul Morales-Garcia is a serial criminal illegal alien from El Salvador who has committed crimes across the U.S. in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York.

Morales-Garcia was previously deported on April 20, 2010. Homeland Security Investigations in Albany will seek a criminal complaint against him for illegal re-entry.

“On June 17, this illegal alien from El Salvador allegedly threatened a sitting U.S. Attorney from the Northern District of New York with a knife. The alien in question illegally entered our country twice, was deported, returned, and has since been committing crimes across the country,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “He should have never been in our country in the first place—and now, he will face attempted murder in the second-degree charges and removal. Make no mistake: Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from Americans' communities.”

In 2009, Arlington, Virginia police charged Morales-Garcia with felony grand larceny. A month later he was convicted of misdemeanor petit larceny and sentenced to 12 months incarceration.

In 2010, ICE arrested Morales-Garcia after encountering him in Arlington County Jail in Virginia on theft charges, and he was issued a Notice to Appear. An immigration judge ordered him removed from the U.S. and ICE deported him.

Morales-Garcia illegally re-entered the United States on an unknown date sometime between April 21, 2010, and Dec. 10, 2021, at an unknown location and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.

In 2021, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia arrested Morales-Garcia and charged him with DWI.

In 2023, the U.S. Parks Police arrested Morales-Garcia and charged him with disorderly conduct for physically threatening, being drunk in public and possession of an open container.

In 2024, the Upper Marion Police of Pennsylvania charged Morales-Garcia with misdemeanor retail theft.

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