Overview
- DHS says ICE lodged a detainer for Hernando Garcia-Morales and now holds him after a Jan. 7 rock shattered a school bus window and fractured an 8-year-old’s skull.
- The bus was returning Yeshivat Noam students from Liberty Science Center; the girl had surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center and is recovering, according to local reports.
- New Jersey State Police arrested Garcia-Morales on Jan. 9 on aggravated assault and related charges, and Bogota police filed additional counts.
- Investigators tied him to multiple similar incidents in Bogota and located him at a makeshift campsite in Old Croaker County Park; DHS says he has prior arrests in 2006 and 2023.
- DHS condemned the attack and criticized sanctuary policies as Gov. Mikie Sherrill declined to comment, while the acting attorney general outlined that detainer procedures allow cooperation on violent offenses.