Migrant accused of shooting two NYPD cops had immigration case dismissed within a year of illegally crossing into US
The Venezuelan migrant accused of shooting two NYPD cops during the early hours of Monday morning crossed into the US illegally last year, but the case against him has already been dismissed, The Post can exclusively reveal.
Bernardo Castro Mata, 19 — who shot one officer in the chest and another in the leg after they attempted to stop his moped in Queens — had a hearing in Chicago on May 6 where an immigration judge closed his case, according to ICE sources.
The information emerged less than 24 hours after The Post exposed the Biden administration’s dismissal of asylum cases and deportation orders against 350,000 migrants because they didn’t have criminal records or aren’t deemed national security threats.
Those migrants are also under no obligation to leave the country and are no longer monitored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] — making them undocumented.
“The Biden administration is allowing foreigners to violate our immigration laws at every possible opportunity, with no finality, no real resolution of their cases.
“This is just the latest example proving that the government does not have the capacity to adequately vet large numbers of people randomly pouring across our borders,” former ICE chief of staff Jon Feere, who is now at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Post.
Mata illegally crossed the border into Eagle Pass, Texas, where he was caught and arrested but later released in July 2023.
The Venezuelan national failed to provide an address to authorities, which assigned him an immigration court in Chicago for proceedings, according to an ICE source.
ICE didn’t respond to The Post when reached for comment about Mata’s case.
The sweeping closing of cases by the Biden admin means the migrants are not granted or denied asylum but their case is removed from immigration courts altogether.
Everything to know about the two NYPD officers shot by a migrant
A Venezuelan migrant shot two NYPD officers in a wild chase in Queens early Monday — with one of the injured cops frantically rendering aid to his more badly hurt partner, police and sources said.
The suspect, 19-year-old Bernardo Castro Mata, entered the US illegally last year.
Mata shot Officer Richard Yarusso, 26, in his bullet-proof vest and Officer Christopher Abreu, 26, in the leg as the cops wrestled to get his illicit gun away, authorities said.
Mata is also suspected of helping to attack two women — one of whom was slugged in the face — during a pair of snatch-and-grab robberies days ago, police and sources said.
He was already on the cops’ radar Monday as a person of interest for the robberies — which may be part of a slew of crimes run by crews, including a violent gang in at least one case.
Mata has been living in the migrant shelter located in the former Courtyard Marriott Hotel near LaGuardia Airport in Queens.
Mata was charged with two counts of attemptive murder and additionally, two counts each of assault, criminal possession of a weapon and obstruction of governmental administration.
The case against Mata has already been dismissed, the Post has confirmed.
Once cases are closed, the subject is no longer in “removal proceedings” to deport them, which is the government’s default position for all migrants admitted at the border.
Such migrants can’t apply for benefits, financial aid, a work permit or vote in elections, immigration lawyers have told The Post. However, once a case is terminated they can reapply for asylum or seek other forms of legal status in the US.
A 2022 memo issued by ICE’s principal legal adviser, Kerry Doyle, and seen by The Post instructed prosecutors at the agency to permit case terminations for migrants who aren’t deemed national security threats.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is poised to issue an executive order to close the southern border once the number of migrant crossings reaches a certain number per day, of either 2,500 or 4,000 according to sources.
Federal authorities recorded a daily average of 5,990 crossings in April, excluding “gotaways” who sneaked over the border and into the US, escaping apprehension.
Feere, however, said the order is too late and the damage to Americans’ safety has already been done.
“The Biden administration doesn’t seem to care much about the fallout from their open border policies, with their apparent goal of trying to legitimize this chaos through executive order.
“If they wanted less illegal immigration and fewer problematic people coming here, they’d be increasing deportations and invoking harsh penalties on foreigners who game the system.
“Instead, they continue to welcome the lawlessness and the subsequent harm to American society,” Feere said.
In addition to allegedly shooting the two NYPD officers, Mata is suspected of helping to attack two women — one of whom was slugged in the face — during a pair of snatch-and-grab robberies days before, police and sources said.
“The patterns that we’re looking at currently in Queens that he’s involved with involve phone snatches and instances where a woman was attacked, her credit card was stolen and eventually used in a Queens smoke shop,’’ NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters after Monday’s police shooting.
