PERRY, N.Y. – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Buffalo Sector arrested Monji Jelassi, a 64-year-old citizen of Tunisia.
On December 2, Perry Police Department arrested and detained Monji Jelassi in response to a report of a male harassing a female and her children.
The female-complainant told officers that Jelassi asked to “purchase” her 5-year-old child and then attempted to entice the child into his vehicle. At the time of his arrest, the only identification Jelassi possessed was a foreign-issued International Driver’s License.
On December 6, Buffalo Sector Border Patrol agents confirmed Jelassi’s identity and discovered he was present in the United States on an expired visa. Jelassi was remanded to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is currently being held at the Federal Detention Facility in Batavia, New York awaiting a deportation hearing for charges under Section 212 and 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“Removing this individual is a matter of public safety and aligns with the interests of our law enforcement partners to remove predators and other dangerous people from our communities,” said Patrol Agent in Charge David Banks.
Buffalo Sector is responsible for securing the border between ports of entry in New York and Pennsylvania encompassing 341 linear maritime border miles. The assistance of citizens is invaluable to their border security mission, and they welcome community members to help them keep our nation’s borders safe and report suspicious activity at 1-800-331-0353.
For more information on the U.S. Border Patrol, visit the Border Security section of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website.