An illegal immigrant from Guatemala accused of child molestation was released from prison last month by authorities in Rhode Island before federal immigration officials could take him into custody.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said on Friday that they had arrested a 22-year-old illegal immigrant wanted on domestic assault and first-degree child molestation on April 10. The arrest came hours after the Sixth District Court of Rhode Island had ordered him released onto the streets of Providence before ICE could take him into custody.
Providence is a sanctuary city and ignored the detainer that had been placed on the illegal immigrant by ICE.
“This unlawfully present individual was arrested locally on first degree child molestation charges and was released back into the community despite an immigration detainer,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons. “We believe it is in the interest of the community that jurisdictions honor our immigration detainers so that ICE can take direct custody of individuals like this who pose a threat to residents.”
“ERO Boston hopes to cooperate with our local partners in Rhode Island to help make safer neighborhoods for everyone in the state and throughout New England,” Lyons added.
According to ICE, the illegal immigrant, who was not named, illegally entered the United States around Nogales, Arizona, where he was apprehended by Border Patrol in November 2018. He would have been around 16-years-old at the time and he was released into the country and given a court date.
Four years later, the Providence Police Department issued a warrant for his arrest on sexual assault and child molestation charges on November 21, 2022. He was not arrested until February 28, 2024 when police nabbed him on domestic assault charges in addition to the previous charges.
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After the arrest, ICE placed an immigration detainer on him, but he was released on April 10 by a Rhode Island court.
“Later that day, ERO Boston deportation officers in Rhode Island arrested him without incident in Providence. He will be held in ICE custody pending a future hearing before a Department of Justice immigration judge,” ICE said.
In recent weeks, ICE has been drawing attention to the release of illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes in New England, The Daily Caller reported. Last month, a 26-year-old Honduran accused first-degree sexual assault of a minor was released by Connecticut authorities who ignored an immigration detainer placed on him by ICE.