The California Department of Corrections released an illegal alien, who was convicted of murdering a child, on Dec. 4, despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s request for his transfer into federal custody.
But ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Los Angeles found and arrested Carlos Morales-Ramirez, a Salvadoran national, on Dec. 10, according to a press release.
“State sanctuary laws grant law enforcement officials the discretion to cooperate with immigration authorities in instances where serious or violent crimes have been committed; again, we are talking about the murder of a child,” aid ICE’s ERO Los Angeles Field Office Director Dave Marin said.
He remains in ICE’s custody until his immigration hearing. His crimes qualify him for deportation.
Los Angeles authorities arrested Morales-Ramirez more than 20 years ago for killing a child.
The Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles convicted him on Jan. 8, 1998 of second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and great bodily injury to a child causing death.
Morales-Ramizer served nearly 23 years in prison before the Pleasant Valley Prison in Chowchilla, California released him.
“Rather than working with our officers to ensure this convicted aggravated felon was safely handed over to ICE, he was released back into the community and our officers were forced to exhaust more time and resources relocating and re-arresting him,” Marin said.
ICE sent the detainer request to the prison on 28 Aug. 2013 so that the California Department of Corrections would transfer him into federal custody upon his sentence’s completion.
California discourages and in some cases prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
“California’s sanctuary policies continue to fail residents by allowing convicted criminals like Morales-Ramirez to walk free – state officials and advocates need to take a hard look at the reality, and potential consequences, of these misguided laws that leave potential victims wildly unprotected from very egregious criminal offenders,” Marin said.
