SONIA THOMAS/Darren williams  

COMMUNITY RELATIONS OFFICERs (CRO)

DHS/U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE)

Sonia Thomas is the Community Relations Officer (CRO) for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) New York Field Office. She is currently assigned to the Office of Partnership and Engagement. She has worked with the federal government since 2008. Ms. Thomas began her federal career with the Department of Housing and Urban Development as a Community Development Representative where she managed grantee portfolios. She then worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Tucson, Arizona as a Grants & Agreements Specialist working in cooperation with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the Arizona Mexico border. In 2016, Ms. Thomas returned to New Jersey where she worked briefly for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) as a Disaster Recovery Grants Specialist at One World Trade Center. She joined ICE in December 2016. As the CRO, Ms. Thomas works closely with the leadership of HSI, (Homeland Security Investigations), OPLA (Office of the Principal Legal Advisor) and ERO (Enforcement Removal Operations) to promote and establish strategic stakeholder partnerships and ensure ICE messaging is accurately conveyed. She is a member of the American Management Association, the National Speaker’s Association and has a professional certification in Federal Grants Management. In 2019, she orchestrated the only in person meeting between the Special Agent in Charge and Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons/Member of the British Parliament, has worked with representatives of the United Nations, is the direct liaison between HSI and NYC Consuls General and has built robust relationships with the NY Board of Rabbis, prominent faith leaders and has established a successful long-term relationship with NYC mosques. 

Darren Williams is an Assistant Field Office Director with U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) New York Field Office. He is currently assigned as the liaison for Public Affairs, Community Outreach, and Congressional Relations Liaison, for the New York Field office’s area of responsibility.

Darren Williams began his federal law enforcement career in 1989, with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service, as a Detention Enforcement Officer in New York City. In 1997, Mr. Williams was promoted to Lead Detention Enforcement Officer in Jamaica, New York. Later that year, Mr. Williams accepted a position as an Immigration Inspector at John F. Kennedy International Airport. In 1999, Mr. Williams was promoted to Deportation Officer, and assigned to Jamaica, New York, where he was responsible for Detained Case Management. In November 2002, Mr. Williams was reassigned to one of the eight original ICE Fugitive Operations Teams authorized by the Patriot Act, and funded by Congress, in New York City. In 2003, Mr. Williams initiated separate investigations that led to the arrests of two of the initial ICE Top 10 Most Wanted fugitive aliens. In 2004, Mr. Williams was assigned to the U.S. Marshal Service’s New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (RFTF), targeting fugitive cases, having a foreign born nexus, throughout the New York City metropolitan area.

In 2007, Mr. Williams was promoted to Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer, and assigned to a Fugitive Operations Team. In 2009, Mr. Williams, was promoted to Assistant Field Office Director.

As an Assistant Field Office Director, in addition to his current assignment, Mr. Williams has managed various ICE law enforcement programs in New York City, such as the National Fugitive Operations Program, Joint Criminal Alien Removal Team, Violent Criminal Alien Section, Transportation and Removal Operations, Detained Case Management Unit, Mission Support Section, and the Training Unit.

Mr. Williams has extensive experience in immigration law enforcement, and has supervised and/or managed many large scale enforcement operations, in various jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Mr. Williams has conducted several media ride-alongs with CBS, NBC, FOX- 5 New York, FOX News, National Public Radio, New York 1, and the Wall Street Journal Video News. Additionally, during the A&E Television law enforcement reality show, Manhunters, Mr. Williams had oversight over all of the ICE supervisors, officers and agents featured. 

Mr. Williams is a proud veteran of the United States Army, and a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE).