The Department of Justice released information Wednesday on a March 24 Rochester traffic stop initiated by agents from Homeland Security Investigations alongside U.S. Border Patrol agents that resulted in multiple people being detained and an internal investigation by the Rochester Police Department for its role in the stop.

According to DOJ officials, a 25-year-old male citizen of Guatemala was under surveillance at a residence on Orange Street in Rochester by Homeland Security Investigations special agents. Officials say the man was in the country illegally after previously being deported in 2023. The DOJ says agents pulled over a truck driven by the suspect near the intersection of Whitney Street and Lyell Avenue and found that he and two other passengers had no immigration status in the United States. All three were taken into immigration custody. 

Officials say the 25-year-old suspect has been charged with illegal reentry, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

The DOJ says the case is part of Operation Take Back America, which it describes as "a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime."

The DOJ has not said if the target of the stop, the 25-year-old from Guatamala, had been involved in any violent crime.

The traffic stop has resulted in an internal investigation by the Rochester Police Department for its role in the stop after Mayor Malik Evans and Police Chief David Smith said officers acted in violation of Rochester's sanctuary city policy by handcuffing and detaining people who were in the van. City officials say the RPD responded to the scene after Border Patrol dispatchers requested an emergency response to the traffic stop.  

The mayor has criticized the actions of the RPD officers, saying that the Rochester Police Department is "not responsible for and does not engage in the enforcement of immigration laws, does not perform the functions of federal immigration officers, and will not assist any federal officers in the enforcement of immigration laws."

The DOJ statement did not address why an emergency response was requested or why RPD had to step in.  

Smith said, based on his review of the body-worn camera, there was no sign of immediate criminal activity taking place that the RPD would have needed to respond to.

The Rochester Police Locust Club, the union representing officers in the area, says there are exceptions to the city's policy – including that members may hold an ICE-related person in a warrant case and members can assist federal immigration officials in making a lawful warrantless arrest for a federal crime.