PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Police Department (PPD) is pushing back against recent media reports — including one from FOX News — that questioned its handling of the arrest and release last month of a man later detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Police said Josue Perez Gomez, 29, of Acushnet, Mass., was taken into custody on July 11, 2025, as part of a child exploitation investigation conducted with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). He was held overnight at the Portsmouth Police Station and arraigned the next morning by a bail commissioner.

According to an Aug. 10 post on the department’s Facebook page, a detainer request from the Department of Homeland Security was received at 10:07 a.m. on July 12, asking police to notify ICE before Perez Gomez was released

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