Indian held in NJ over alleged sexual assault of minor, theft; calls him ‘criminal illegal alien’

THE US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday (local time) accused Vodela Yashaswi Kottapalli, an Indian national, of multiple offences, including the sexual assault of a minor, and has taken him into custody.

In a post on X, ICE stated that he is charged with sexually assaulting a child under the age of 13, as well as shoplifting and causing a public disturbance. The post said, “Vodela Yashaswi Kottapalli, a criminal illegal alien from India, has pending charges for sexual assault and larceny in New Jersey. We'll keep him in custody pending removal proceedings."

Removal proceedings are official legal processes in which US immigration courts decide whether a foreign national should be deported from the country. Individuals are frequently held in custody during this process, especially when serious criminal charges are involved.

ICE has not released additional information regarding the status of the criminal case or a schedule for the removal proceedings. The charges are still pending, and no conviction has been recorded to date

Meanwhile, it has intensified its enforcement against individuals residing in the US illegally under Donald Trump's second term.

Last December, ICE also released information about an Indian truck driver involved in a fatal highway crash in Oregon that claimed two lives, according to ANI.

According to ICE, Kumar entered the United States illegally through Arizona in November 2022 and later received work authorisation and a commercial driver’s license from California state authorities.

The case comes amid several similar incidents involving Indian nationals operating heavy trucks in the US.

About ICE

ICE, established in 2003 through the merger of investigative and interior enforcement units of the former US Customs Service and Immigration and Naturalization Service, now employs over 20,000 law enforcement and support staff across more than 400 offices in the US and abroad.

The agency operates with an annual budget of around $8 billion, primarily allocated to three operational divisions: Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA). A fourth division, Management and Administration (M&A), provides support to these operational branches to carry out ICE’s mission.

$38.3 billion ICE detention plan

In other news, the Trump administration is advancing a $38.3 billion proposal to overhaul the US immigration detention system, in a major expansion that officials say will make operations more efficient and accelerate deportations, reported Bloomberg.

Known as the Detention Reengineering Initiative, the plan involves acquiring and upgrading eight large detention centres, adding 16 processing sites, and taking over 10 existing “turnkey” facilities already run by ICE. The largest centres are expected to hold up to 10,000 people, mainly for international removals.