by Debra Heine
Two suspected illegal alien child rapists are running free because authorities in New York and New Jersey refused to hold them in jail for ICE, federal immigration officials say.
Federal immigration officials say two alleged child rapists are on the run after New York and New Jersey authorities refused to hold the suspects in jail for ICE. https://t.co/hejnsdZEVI
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) September 27, 2019
The Mexican nationals—Luciano Trejo-Dominguez and Joaquin Rodriguez Quiroz —were charged with sexually assaulting a minor in two separate incidents.
ICE had requested that both men be held in jail until federal officers could pick them up, but local law enforcement in both sanctuary states released the suspected sex offenders back into the community instead.
Trejo-Dominguez was arrested by Vineland, New Jersey police and charged with “aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault of a victim 13-15 years-old, criminal restraint, criminal sexual contact, and endangering the welfare of a child.”
Over the next two days, ICE and Pacific Enforcement Response Center both filed detainers to have Trejo-Dominguez held at the Cumberland County Jail. Those requests were denied and the alleged rapist was released on Aug. 23.
Quiroz was arrested by police in Westchester County, N.Y. earlier this month for allegedly raping a minor under 17 years-old, a class-E felony in New York.
ICE again lodged a detainer request with the Westchester County Jail on Sept. 7, but the Mexican national was released after posting bond.
ICE has classified both men as fugitives and are asking anyone with information on where either of the child rape suspects are to call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
ICE has the authority under federal law to lodge immigration detainers with law enforcement agencies that have custody of removable aliens arrested on criminal charges.
The detainer form asks the other law enforcement agency to notify ICE in advance of release and to maintain custody of the alien for a brief period so that ICE can take custody of that person in a safe and secure setting upon release from that agency’s custody. Across the United States, several jurisdictions refuse to honor detainers and instead choose to willingly release criminal offenders back into their local communities where they are free to offend.
Immigration officers arrested more than 50 illegal aliens in New Jersey this past week as part of a sting targeting what ICE calls “public safety threats” after local law enforcement released them back into their communities. In addition to accused child rapist Trejo-Dominguez, two other illegal immigrants who are considered to be public safety threats remain at-large, the agency says.
Edgar Camarillo-Ruiz, 33, was arrested by the New Brunswick Police Department on August 18 for the charge of simple assault – domestic violence.
On Aug. 19, ICE lodged a detainer with the Middlesex County jail; however, the detainer was not honored, and Camarillo-Ruiz was released into the community, according to the release. He remains at-large.
On Dec. 24, 2018, Elvis Rafael Cabrera-Vasquez, 38, was arrested by the Perth Amboy Police Department on Christmas Eve, 2018 and charged with simple assault/domestic violence.
ICE lodged a detainer that same day with the Middlesex County Jail; however, the detainer was not honored, and Cabrera-Vasquez was released into the community, according to the release.
On Feb. 14, Cabrera-Vasquez was arrested by the Perth Amboy Police Department and charged with contempt-violating a domestic violence judicial order.
Acting ICE Director Matthew T. Albence held a White House press briefing on Thursday to explain how sanctuary policies put the public at risk and to call on the public to hold their local lawmakers accountable.
Albence pointed out that “state and local jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement not only betray their duty to protect public safety, but force ICE to be more visible in those areas.”
“As law enforcement professionals, it is frustrating to see senseless acts of violence and other criminal activity happen in our communities, knowing ICE could have prevented them with just a little cooperation,” said Albence. “To the public, who want to live and raise your families in safe neighborhoods, we ask you to hold your lawmakers accountable before you, or someone you love, is unnecessarily victimized by a criminal ICE could have removed from the country.”
ICE said that this week immigration officers focused on people who had been released from uncooperative jurisdictions.
Of the nearly 1,300 at-large arrests made this week, ICE officers reportedly apprehended 199 people who would have already been in jail had the agency’s detainers been honored.
According to ICE, many of their crimes were incredibly serious:
- three (3) had convictions for murder or manslaughter.
- 100 had convictions for sex crimes – nearly half (47) had convictions for sex crimes involving a minor.
- 70 had convictions for drug crimes.
- 328 had convictions for driving under the influence.
“It is past time to put aside all the political rhetoric and listen to the facts – and the fact is, people are being hurt and victimized every day because of jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with ICE,” said Acting Director Albence.
“It is my sincere desire to work with local partners to whatever extent they are willing to work with this agency in what should be our shared goal to ensure public safety,” he said. “Uncooperative jurisdictions should be on notice that as long as criminal offenders are being released, they should get used to seeing a lot more ICE at-large enforcement activity in their communities.”
Nationally, approximately 90 percent of all people arrested by ICE during fiscal year 2019 either had a criminal conviction, a pending criminal charge, had illegally re-entered the United States after being previously removed (a federal felony), or were an immigration fugitive subject to a final order of removal.
On its official website, ICE highlighted some grievous examples of the human cost of sanctuary laws and policies that restrict cooperation with ICE:
- In September 2019, ICE officers arrested Jose Alejandro Lopez-Gutierrez, 56, in Colorado. Lopez-Gutierrez, a Mexican national, was arrested and booked into the Boulder County (CO) Jail after an arrest for felony sex assault on a child. ICE lodged a detainer on Lopez-Gutierrez in May 2019, but the Boulder County Jail released him from custody three days later without notifying ICE. He has previously been removed on one prior occasion.
- In January 2019, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office (NC) arrested Angel Diaz-Vera, 40, a Mexican national, for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). ICE lodged a detainer, but he was released from local custody. In June 2019, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office again arrested Diaz-Vera for two counts of assault on a female, assault by strangulation, assault with a deadly weapon, and DWI. He again was released from Mecklenburg County despite ICE issuing another detainer and remains at large.
- In September 2017, Jose Ramirez-Soto, 43, of Mexico, was arrested and booked into King County Jail (Washington) for child molestation charges. In 2018, he was convicted on a sexual assault charge (4th degree). ICE lodged a detainer, but Ramirez-Soto was released. Ramirez-Soto was again arrested and booked in the King County Jail in July 2019 for harassment and threats to kill. ICE again lodged a detainer, but he was released and remains at-large. He has been previously removed from the United States twice.
- In July 2019, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office (OR) arrested Alejandro Maldonado-Hernandez, 30, of Mexico, for manslaughter, assault and reckless driving. ICE lodged a detainer with the Washington County Jail, but he was released in August 2019 and remains at-large.
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Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.
