Convicted murderer and illegal immigrant Carlos Morales-Ramirez was reportedly released by California officials, despite an immigration detainer lodged by ICE, according to the agency.
El Salvadorian Morales-Ramirez was, “convicted of second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and great bodily injury to a child causing death by the Superior Court of California,” according to an ICE report.
California rejected the request by ICE officials that Ramirez be given into their custody for deportation, instead releasing him into the community and forcing ICE officials to re-arrest him.
“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,” said Los Angeles Field Office Director Dave Marin. (RELATED: ‘TwitterKiller’ Sentenced To Death After Reaching Out, Killing People, Who Posted Suicidal Thoughts Online)
Immigration detainer not honored, convicted child murder released in California. Learn more: https://t.co/UuJEXDLa9f pic.twitter.com/nqY9sXFhX7
— ICE (@ICEgov) December 14, 2020
The state sanctuary laws passed under “California Values Act” has been a serious point of contention nationally. Marin is critical of these policies, which he believes “continue to fail residents by allowing convicted criminals like Morales-Ramirez to walk free.”
“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 – 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.”
The Department of Homeland Security’s most recent assessments in 2015, estimated that a total of 12 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States.