EASTON, Pa. — On Sept. 27, Northampton County officials received an email from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
“Good morning," began the message from a deportation officer from the Philadelphia Field Office and Pike Sub Office of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations.
"Can you please send me the criminal complaint for Luis Gualdron? ... This was the guy whose charges were dropped and refiled the same day a few months ago. ... Thanks for the help!!”Email from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
"Can you please send me the criminal complaint for Luis Gualdron? ... This was the guy whose charges were dropped and refiled the same day a few months ago. ... Thanks for the help!!”
That email began a chain of actions that ended with the Jan. 31 arrest of Gualdron, a suspected Venezuelan gang member who was taken into custody just outside Northampton County Prison, officials said.
According to an ICE news release, Luis Gualdron-Gualdron, “a citizen and national of Venezuela who previously entered the United States without inspection,” was arrested without incident shortly after an immigration detainer was not honored.
A redacted email chain that details communication between the county and ICE, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shows how the county was responsible for informing DHS and ICE about Gualdron's release, which led to his detainment.
But the surprise may be that the emails show the arrest was not linked to President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders related to immigration, but to one of Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure issued in 2020.
Background on Gualdron
The email chain was shared with LehighValleyNews.com by Northampton County Public Information Officer Jessica Berger.
Berger obtained the correspondence from an intake administrator at the Northampton County Department of Corrections.
Gualdron was “a citizen and national of Venezuela who previously entered the United States without inspection."U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement release
Officials have said Gualdron was “a citizen and national of Venezuela who previously entered the United States without inspection."
The U.S. Border Patrol arrested Gualdron near Brownsville, Texas, on Dec. 13, 2023, for entering the country without inspection or parole by an immigration official.
Gualdron was served the next day with a notice to appear before an immigration judge charging inadmissibility and, since he was traveling with his spouse and children, was released on an order of recognizance, an ICE release says.
The release says he is a “suspected Tren de Aragua gang member” who has a criminal record in Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem police arrested Gualdron last May 27 and charged him with indecent assault without consent, indecent assault on a person less than 16, and harassment.
Gualdron was convicted in Northampton County Court of harassment and sentenced to three to six months in jail, with credit for time served, according to the ICE release.
The ICE release states the government agency encountered Gualdron at the Northampton County Prison, and lodged an immigration detainer with the facility on May 28.
'Protocol remains protocol'
After the initial ICE e-mail, the county responded on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, stating, “This inmate was released today to 3-6 months.”
“He is well passed his max date," the email says. "We are holding on your warrant for 48 hours from now (so 10am [sic] Friday) if you are getting the proper paperwork.
"Or we can release if you tell us too.”
A follow-up from the ICE email address asks, “Can you please send me the sentencing sheet?” followed by another request, “Also will there be any probation for him?”
“So when we follow the executive order that’s been set, we let ICE know when there is someone in and whether they choose to pick them up or not, we hold them for the addition 48 hours.”Northampton County Public Information Officer Jessica Berger
The response from the county states, “The sentencing sheet does not mention a probation tail, so he is completely done at this time.”
The chain concludes with the ICE email address stating, “We are trying to figure out a way to pick him up so please do not release him.
"Is there any way you can give me a time he’ll be released so we can arrest him outside if an agreement can’t be made?”
Berger explained that the emails detail the courts had officially released Gualdron, then proceeded to hold him an additional 48 hours to let the federal agency decide “whether they want to pick him up.”
“The protocol remains the protocol,” Berger said of the county practice.
“So when we follow the (county) executive order that’s been set, we let ICE know when there is someone in and whether they choose to pick them up or not, we hold them for the additional 48 hours.”
Standard operating procedure
The Trump administration made mass deportations of illegal immigrants a cornerstone of its campaigning and initiatives, triggering both support of and opposition to promises to clear the country of 11 million illegal immigrants.
The administration hit the ground running last month with numerous raids throughout the country.
"Providing DHS and ICE with a 48 hour hold for Gualdron was simply standard operating procedure."Northampton County Public Information Officer Jessica Berger
But Gualdron’s arrest outside the prison was not necessarily a product of Trump executive orders.
Berger said Executive Order 20-28 — which bans ICE from arresting immigrants going through legal processing for a separate crime — is the applicable action in this case.
Providing DHS and ICE with a 48-hour hold for Gualdron was simply standard operating procedure, she said.
The fact that Gualdron’s arrest came just days after Trump’s orders appears to be a coincidence, though ICE’s promotion of the action could be seen as a promotion of the administration’s direction and immigration policy.
Details beyond what was explained in the Gualdron arrest statement from ICE are currently unknown.
