An illegal alien wanted for rape and sexual assault in Oregon was arrested in Florida this week and, after pressure from Governor Ron DeSantis, federal immigration officials took the suspect into custody after initially refusing to do so.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office arrested Guatemalan national Juan Jose-Sebastian, 26, in Florida a couple of weeks ago for driving without a license. Before he was set to be released from jail, police learned that he was wanted in Oregon on three counts of rape and sexual assault.
Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder was informed late last week that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would not take the illegal alien because they were out of detention room due to the historic flood of illegal aliens that flooded the U.S. because of President Joe Biden’s policies. Democrat-run Oregon refused to extradite him.
“The reason I get up every day and the reason I’m sheriff is to keep the people of my county safe,” said Martin County Sheriff William Snyder. “It’s my responsibility and for me to have to release a felon who’s wanted in another state for such serious crimes was painful and it was not something I wanted to do and if there was any other mechanism for me to keep the suspect I absolutely would have done it.”
The DeSantis administration moved quickly to pressure the Biden administration to arrest the suspect and remove him from the streets of Florida, which has taken a hardline against illegal immigration.
“We had to really pull teeth to be able to get the federal government to detain an illegal alien who was apprehended in South Florida,” DeSantis said at a press conference on Tuesday. “It was a relatively minor offense. They had held them for as long as they could, but he was wanted on charges involving rape and sexual abuse in Oregon. And Oregon did not want to accept this individual. They weren’t interested in seeking justice apparently on behalf of the victims of his crimes. And so the plan was just to release him on the streets of Florida. Well, that is unacceptable. And so, we fought back.”
He said that top officials in his administration pressured Acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner to put a detainer on the individual and allowed the Martin County Sheriff’s Office to rearrest the illegal alien.
DeSantis said that it was “pathetic” that the U.S. was in a situation where ICE wouldn’t do its job and Oregon wouldn’t want to bring the suspect back to face justice.
WATCH:
We had to pull teeth to get the federal government to detain an illegal alien who was apprehended in Florida, but he was wanted on charges involving rape and sexual abuse in Oregon. Since Oregon was not interested in pursuing justice, the plan was to release him on the streets of… pic.twitter.com/slLj0BtVK0
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 5, 2024