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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained an illegal immigrant who was released back into the community after allegedly kidnapping a 4-year-old girl from a laundromat in New York, a report said.
The Department of Homeland Security told the New York Post that Carlos Corte-Corte, 38, of Ecuador, was taken into custody by ICE on March 31 and placed into removal proceedings following the March 28 incident at Laundry Kingdom in Patchogue.
“This three-time deported criminal illegal alien, Carlos Corte-Corte, kidnapped an innocent four-year-old girl from a laundromat on Long Island. New York sanctuary politicians chose to release this kidnapper from jail to prey on more innocent children rather than cooperate with ICE law enforcement,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis told the newspaper.
“Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety,” she reportedly added. “This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.”
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The Laundry Kingdom in Patchogue, N.Y., where Carlos Corte-Corte was accused of kidnapping a 4-year-old girl. (Google Maps)
The Suffolk County Police Department said that, “While a woman was with her two children at a laundromat, located at 138 East Main St., Carlos-Corte, who was unknown to the woman, led her 4-year-old daughter out the back exit of the laundromat, at 12:08 p.m.” on March 28.
“Her mother reported her missing, and patrol officers responded to the scene, where they reviewed surveillance video and began canvassing the area. During the search, the mother located her daughter in the children’s play area of the Patchogue-Medford Library, located at 54-60 East Main St. A patrol officer then located Corte near the laundromat and took him into custody,” police added.
Corte-Corte was charged with second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk down a street during a multi-agency targeted enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois, in January 2025. The agency rearrested Corte-Corte on March 31, according to the New York Post. (Christopher Dilts / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The day after his arrest, a Suffolk County district judge freed Corte-Corte on supervised release with a GPS monitor, the New York Post reported.
The newspaper said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney disagreed with the judge’s decision and added that, “I think if you look at the facts of the case, clearly they’re concerning.”
“He thought the girl lived alone without parents,” the New York Post quoted Corte-Corte’s public defender as saying in court. “He took her to the library and told an employee there as such, but there was a language barrier. It seems to be a mistake.”
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer’s badge and gear. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for further comment.