‘It is unconscionable that someone who is sworn to uphold the law would find it acceptable to release an alleged rapist … when there are other options available…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) A Salvadoran illegal immigrant who was released from custody by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, despite a detainer request from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, immediately went to the house of the victim he had allegedly raped.
Antonio Ulises Perez, 38, was subsequently apprehended by ICE to face deportation hearings, the agency said in a press release.
“It is unconscionable that someone who is sworn to uphold the law would find it acceptable to release an alleged rapist who is illegally present in the U.S. back into the community when there are other options available under federal immigration law,” said Marc Moore, field office director for ICE Dallas.
“Within a few hours of being released, this illegal alien was back at the home of the rape victim where he was free to re-victimize her and harm other members of the community,” Moore said. “Fortunately, ICE deportation officers were able to quickly locate this individual and safely take him back into custody.”
OCSO arrested Perez for first-degree rape on Sept. 30. While in the custody of local authorities, ICE was able to conduct an in-person interview and determine his immigration status, then issued its detainer request on Oct. 8.
Despite the request, Perez was released from the jail on bond at 3 a.m. the following morning and went to his previous victim’s house.
Later that day, he was arrested by deportation officers.
ICE said it had lodged more than 160,000 detainer requests this year, which account for around 70 percent of the arrests it makes. However, increasingly, local governments and law-enforcement authorities in left-wing “sanctuary cities” have sought to thwart the agency’s efforts to enforce immigration law.
Some ICE opponents claim the agency should instead seek a federal warrant if it expects compliance, but the agency said this is a distortion and Congress had not established any sort of procedure or requirement that ICE go to the courts—adding yet another layer of bureaucracy to the costly and inefficient deportation process.
“This idea is simply a figment created by those who wish to undermine immigration enforcement and excuse the ill-conceived practices of sanctuary jurisdictions that put politics before public safety,” ICE said in its press release.