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Cook County Ignored More Than 1,000 ICE Detainers In Fiscal Year 2019, Allowing Repeat Offenders To Roam Free

Ashe Schow
Cook County Ignored More Than 1,000 ICE Detainers In Fiscal Year 2019, Allowing Repeat Offenders To Roam Free
Mirko Vitali / EyeEm via Getty Images

Law enforcement in Cook County, Illinois, allowed more than 1,000 criminal illegal aliens to go free in Fiscal Year 2019, ignoring detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A press release from ICE highlighted some of the illegal immigrants who were released from prison despite ICE lodging immigration detainers, including domestic abusers and an attempted murderer. One of the men who were released from Cook County law enforcement officials were rearrested without officials notifying ICE that they had been released. South African national Rasheed Abass, 50, was arrested in June 2019 for indecent exposure, released, and then arrested in July for assault. ICE placed detainers on him after each arrest but were ignored. Nicaraguan national Kennete Acevedo Ortiz (also known as Kennev Vasquest-Rugama), 28, was arrested three times in Fiscal Year 2019, once for driving under the influence, once for domestic violence, and a third time for failing to appear in court.

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