U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) filed an arrest detainer Monday asking New Jersey authorities to hold a man accused of throwing a baseball-sized rock into a school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, an attack that fractured the skull of  an 8-year-old Jewish girl.

The suspect, Hernando Garcia-Morales, is being held on multiple state charges following the Jan. 8 incident in Teaneck. ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, identified him as a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico” and said he entered the United States at an unknown date and time.

According to Homeland Security officials, the detainer is intended to ensure Garcia-Morales is transferred to federal custody rather than released back into the community if he is granted bail or otherwise released on state charges.

New Jersey Turnpike State Police arrested Garcia-Morales on charges including aggravated assault, resisting arrest and possession of a weapon. The Bogota Police Department also charged him with aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, defiant trespassing, peering, and criminal mischief, according to DHS.

Yeshivat Noam, the Modern Orthodox day school the girl – גילה ברכה בת מיכל אילנה – attends, said the third grader is recovering after undergoing surgery.

Federal officials highlighted Garcia-Morales’ criminal history in New Jersey, a state with policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

“Garcia-Morales has had an extensive criminal history while living in sanctuary state New Jersey,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “In 2023, he was arrested for burglary. In 2006, he was arrested for possession of a weapon and theft.”

The filing of the ICE detainer immediately placed the case at the center of the Trump administration’s broader push to pressure so-called sanctuary states and cities to cooperate more fully with federal immigration authorities.

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant U.S. secretary of homeland security for public affairs, issued a statement condemning the attack and criticizing New Jersey’s immigration policies.

“Violently targeting a school bus full of children is extremely wicked and heinous,” McLaughlin said. “Hernando Garcia-Morales should have never been in this country, let alone released after multiple arrests into New Jersey communities.”

“ICE has lodged an arrest detainer against this monster, and we hope New Jersey’s sanctuary politicians will help us keep him off American streets for good,” she added.

The attack occurred as two school buses were returning from a class trip to Liberty Science Center. While traveling on the Turnpike between Challenger Road and Degraw Avenue, a large rock was thrown at one of the buses, striking the girl in the head.

Emergency responders transported the child to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she underwent surgery for a skull fracture. Community leaders in Teaneck and Bergen County coordinated closely with law enforcement and school officials in the aftermath.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)