‘There is no reason this convicted child predator should have been turned loose…’
(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrest of one of the most dangerous illegal aliens in the country on Thursday, after years of crimes, convictions and “sanctuary” protections that allowed him to evade federal immigration authorities.
Kristian Jonas Gamez Trejo, a 25-year old Honduran national, was apprehended in San Francisco on April 28 despite the best efforts of state and local officials, according to an ICE press release.
Gamez was on the agency’s “Most Wanted” list for a rap sheet of offenses dating back to 2014.
While his criminal record is stunning, California’s sanctuary policies that allowed him to avoid accountability and repeatedly commit crimes is at least as troubling.
Following Gamez’s many arrests and incarcerations in California, ICE would issue immigration detainer orders requesting notification of his release. If honored, he would have been taken into federal custody and deported.
But over and over again, the ICE detainers were ignored and Gamez would commit new crimes, such as sexually assaulting a minor.
“Once again, I am waiting for San Francisco officials to tell me how not turning over Mr. Gamez made our community safer,” said David Jennings, director of the ICE San Francisco field office.
“There is no reason this convicted child predator should have been turned loose into our community,” he said.
Gamez is believed to have illegally entered the United States for the first time in April 2014. But he was not able to take advantage of California’s rising sanctuary policies at the time and was arrested a year later and deported back to Honduras.
He illegally reentered the U.S. in late 2015 and was again arrested and deported.
But upon his third illegal entry, Gamez’s fortunes changed thanks to California’s sanctuary protections and far-left anti-ICE activism. Notably, San Franciso is Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home district.
Gamez was arrested in 2016 for a warrant relating to felony sex with a minor committed during one of his previous illegal stints in the U.S. He was held in the San Francisco County Jail and ICE requested a routine transfer to federal custody.
But ICE officials’ worst fears were realized when the detainer was ignored and Gamez was released while awaiting trial. He was later convicted of the sex crime and served only 87 days in jail.
Following the sentence, he was released again without notifying ICE and within months was arrested repeatedly for additional crimes.
After each arrest, conviction and felony violation of probation, ICE issued new detainers. But they were all ignored and Gamez was effectively allowed to continue his preventable crime spree.
In Feb., Gamez was released again but ICE finally caught up with him last week.