An illegal immigrant with a criminal history dating to 2010 was released from jail by local authorities in Washington state on two separate occasions despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers lodged again him, the agency said Thursday.
In addition, ICE said that Julio Cruz-Velazquez, 25, was arrested and released from jail before the agency could lodge a detainer request on seven further occasions.
Cruz-Velazquez, who entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico, was arrested by Seattle police and charged with homicide on Nov. 7. The agency lodged a detainer for him on the same day with the King County Jail.
“When law enforcement agencies do not honor ICE detainers or simple notification requests, the individuals they release, who often have significant criminal histories, are turned out into an unsuspecting community, free to continue their criminal behavior and seek out new victims,” the agency said in a statement. “Such is the case of Julio Cruz-Velazquez.”
ICE said it had previously lodged detainers for Cruz-Velazquez with the King County Jail on July 9 of last year, two days after he was arrested by the Tukwila Police Department and charged with rape and domestic violence; and on Jan. 7 of this year, three days after he was arrested by the same department and charged with failure to comply and driving under the influence.
On both occasions, Cruz-Velazquez was released without the King County Jail notifying ICE, the agency said.
“Local law enforcement failed the public in this case on multiple occasions,” ICE Seattle field office director Nathalie Asher said. “Prior to Julio Cruz-Velazquez’s most recent arrest for murder, ICE lodged detainers on him twice. Had those detainers been honored, or had ICE been notified on any of the other multiple occasions he was arrested and released from local jails, we would have taken him into custody.” – READ MORE