More Evidence Sanctuary Policies Threaten Public Safety
On Feb. 26, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announcedthe sentencing of Juan Ramon-Vasquez, a previously deported Honduran who hadbeen convicted of repeatedly raping a child while living illegally in thesanctuary city of Philadelphia.
Ramon-Vasquez, who was deported in 2009, exemplifiesthe serious danger presented to the community when Immigration and CustomsEnforcement (ICE) detainers are not honored.
After returning illegally to the U.S., Ramon-Vasquezlanded in a Philadelphia prison, but ICE’s request to hold him was ignored andthe criminal alien was released. The end result was the repeated rape a youngchild, a crime which garnered him a sentence of 8 to 20 years in stateprison. Ramon-Vasquez received an additional sentence of 21 months is forimmigration violations.
“After the City let this criminal loose on the streetsof Philadelphia, Ramon-Vasquez repeatedly raped an innocent child. If the ICE detainer had been honored by local law enforcement, this crime neverwould have happened, and the victim would have been spared horrendousphysical and mental trauma,” said McSwain.
He told criminals like Ramon-Vasquez to take note,stating that “unlike the Philadelphia government, we are not on your side.”
Pro-amnesty politicians and activists like promotesanctuary policies in warm and fuzzy terms like “welcoming” or “embracing” ofimmigrants, but the evidence shows they pose a real and direct threat to thepublic safety of all residents – immigrant and native-born alike.
This week when ICEarrested three criminal aliens in western Michigan who had beenreleased from the custody of the Kent County Sheriff’s office despite activeimmigration detainers being in place.
Kent County only adopted a policy to refuse to honorICE detainers in January – an action that was taken in response to the mistakendetention of a U.S. Marine veteran.
Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young rightlycalled for a review of the ICE detention, but she went too far in enacting apolicy preventing officers from honoring detainer requests, which she saidstemmed from “concern” about the reasons for Jilmar Ramos-Gomez’detention.
So, less than two months after the policy went intoeffect, three criminal illegal aliens were released onto the streets withoutregard to the threat they posed.
On Feb. 28, ICE announced the arrests, including one Mexicannational who charged with drunk driving and who had prior arrests for battery,battery 2nd, fraud-false info to law enforcement, felony-reentry afterdeportation, accordingto ICE.
A second was an illegal alien from Honduras who’s beenarrested for assault with intent to murder and was convicted [IM1] daysearlier of assault with a dangerous weapon – a felony. Nonetheless, under thenew policy, he was released.
As policymakers consider changing policy on ICEdetainers, perhaps they should first review the findingsfrom an Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI) investigation which showed Californialaw enforcement agencies have refused to honor a sizeable number of immigrationdetainer requests for illegal aliens charged with serious felonies.
For example, over a 27 month period ending on December31, 2017, California police and sheriffs’ departments refused to honor over5,600 immigration holds, including over 3,400 which were classified by ICE asthreat level 1 and 2 offenses. These included, but were not limited to,homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, drugs,burglary, and fraud.
As U.S. Attorney McSwain said, sanctuary policiesthreaten public safety and there is mounting evidence to prove it.