On Wednesday, the Santa Fe Police Department (SFPD) spoke out publicly on their growing frustration over continuously arresting the same illegal aliens over and over again.
SFPD Lt. Louis Carlos told KOAT TV: “Somebody's dropping the ball. These suspects have an immigration detainer, meaning Immigration takes control of them. And somehow, they're ending up back on the streets of Santa Fe.”
One example of this comes in the form of one Mario Orantes-Munoz, 22, an illegal alien with an extensive arrest record in Santa Fe.
According to police, Orantes-Munoz is currently wanted for breaking into a home and stealing two firearms. In June, he was arrested and charged with another burglary and though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed a detainer on him, he somehow ended up right back on the streets and avoiding deportation.
However, at least in Santa Fe, the problem may not lie completely with ICE.
Over concerns that the Santa Fe County Jail (SFCJ) may not be honoring those detainers, police often take illegal alien suspects to other county jails to ensure that ICE will pick them up.
SFCJ Director Annabelle Romero has denied any wrongdoing and said: “I think that the issues fall within other jurisdictions or other parameters.”
Of course, the problem of criminal aliens constantly re-appearing on our streets is hardly limited to the American Southwest.
In August 2011, the chairman of Virginia’s Prince William County, Corey Stewart filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to discover what (if any) action the federal agency has taken against the 4,000 illegal aliens his county has turned over to ICE for deportation.
Stewart took this measure after Prince William County police began noticing that the illegal aliens they arrested for various crimes and then turned over to ICE, kept showing up in their jail.
A tragic example of the feds’ ‘catch and release’ policy came on August 1, 2010 when Carlos A. Martinelly Montano, 23, slammed head on into a car in which three Benedictine nuns were traveling. Sister Denise Mosier was killed instantly while her two companions were taken by helicopter to the hospital with serious condition.
Montano was charged with DUI and involuntary manslaughter.
It was actually Montano’s third DUI arrest in Prince William County over the last five years. At the time of the crash, the illegal alien was free on bond while awaiting deportation proceedings.
The case received national attention and had many Americans calling for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano’s resignation.
According to spokesman Jonathan Perok, Prince William County Police notified ICE after both his first and second DUI arrests. The department is now investigating how the illegal alien was able to obtain a valid driver’s license.
Stewart issued the following statement on the case: “The despicable thing is that this criminal was … handed over to ICE twice, and released by ICE twice. He’s gone out an killed a nun. That’s a perfect example of what’s wrong with immigration enforcement in this country. The blame is on representatives in Congress for being so flaccid on the issue, and they continue not to fund the deportation of illegal immigrants in this country.”
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