'Significant threat': ICE tracks down illegal immigrant charged with child sex crime
A Honduran illegal immigrant, charged with a child sex crime was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — months after he was released from jail in Connecticut despite ICE’s pleas to take custody of him.
The unnamed 26-year-old Honduran national had initially been released into the U.S. in 2013 after being arrested by Border Patrol. He was given a notice to appear and released into the U.S. to family members.
In September 2023, police in New Britain, Connecticut, arrested and charged him for sex offenses — including first-degree sexual assault against a minor under the age of 13 and illegal sexual contact with a minor.
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ICE issued a detainer against him in October. The detainer is a request that the agency be notified before a suspected illegal immigrant is released from local police custody and to hold them until ICE can take custody of them. However, some jurisdictions, including "sanctuary" jurisdictions, do not honor detainers.
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In this instance, ICE says that the Hartford Correctional Center ignored the detainer and released the Honduran back onto the streets on Feb. 1.
He was eventually picked up by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers on April 4 — nearly two months after his release.
In a statement, ICE again scolded those jurisdictions that don’t cooperate with detainers.
"This is a disturbing example of how noncooperative jurisdictions can pose a significant threat to communities in our region," ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. "Despite the presence of an immigration detainer, local authorities released an alleged sexual predator onto the streets of a Connecticut neighborhood."
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ICE and the Biden White House have repeatedly urged cities and jurisdictions to cooperate with federal authorities with regard to handing over criminal illegal immigrants.
"We welcome local law enforcement’s support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in February in response to a question about its stance on sanctuary cities. "When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE."