Juan Carlos Alonzo Vasquez, 29, is at Orange County Correctional awaiting a court date when he'll get to explain why he should remain there.

For the last two years, he's been the head chef at The Anchor restaurant in Kingston.

He was detained on Broadway Wednesday morning.

"Everybody heard about this happening, but I don't think they thought it could happen in Kingston. We're a sanctuary city. We thought our community was safe,” said The Anchor co-owner Brandy Walters.

A source at ICE tells Spectrum News ICE has no record of Vasquez ever having a green card, and has no indication that he is legally present.

The source says the agency has recently begun strictly interpreting and enforcing immigration law.

A local immigration attorney who has been in contact with Vasquez says that's part of a new policy that says ‘time's up’ for undocumented immigrants who have prior convictions.

The owner of The Anchor says Vasquez had a DWI in 2011, but he went through the court process and resolved it.

Spectrum News searched felony records for Vasquez: he has none.

In requesting Kingston police records for Vasquez, one traffic stop in October was found, and also a call for service, in which Vasquez asked police to patrol his area because ATV riders knocked over his mailbox.

That immigration attorney says he's handled several similar cases.

He says, with a lawyer, immigrants might get to plead cases before a judge within a couple weeks.

He says, without a lawyer, immigrants may have to wait three to four months — without bond — for a court date.

Ulster County Executive Mike Hein says he's referred Vasquez's case to the governor's office, but the state doesn't have jurisdiction

When asked whether Hein's office or the sheriff's office had any prior knowledge that Vasquez would be detained, and if they assisted, a spokesperson told Spectrum News they're unable to answer those questions right now.