Deporting criminals not so easy

Published: Sunday, April 18, 2010


By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo and James Tinley

Toai Nguyen is the type of person the federal government would love to get rid of.

He’s an illegal immigrant and he’s violent — he nearly murdered his father on Route 8 in 2008.

But he is free, and he’s in the United States to stay. Indefinitely.

Nguyen was released from state prison this month, and immigration officials are allowing him to stay in the country because his native country, Vietnam, has refused to take him back.

Harold Ort, a public affairs spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Nguyen, 37, is under an order of supervision, in which he must report regularly to an ICE case officer.

“He is not in ICE custody, and he is not deported,â€