Illegal alien murders three victims after New Jersey jailers refuse ICE detainer request

An illegal alien previously detained by a sanctuary county in New Jersey is accused of killing three individuals in Missouri, but federal authorities argue that these crimes could have been prevented if better cooperation existed between immigration officials and local law enforcement.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, “Luis Rodrigo Perez, 23, a [Mexican national], is charged with fatally shooting two men and wounding two others on Nov. 1 and fatally shooting a woman the next day.” He is now facing three murder charges, one attempted murder charges, plus other charges such as being illegally in the United States and firearms charges, according to ICE.

Because of the circumstances of the the suspect’s acts of violence, ICE officials are blaming the Middlesex County, New Jersey County Jail for the killing spree in Missouri.

“Yet again, an ICE detainer was ignored and a dangerous criminal alien was released to the streets and is now charged with killing three people,” Corey Price, the agency’s active executive director, said. “Had ICE’s detainer request in December 2017 been honored by Middlesex County Jail, Luis Rodrigo Perez would have been placed in deportation proceedings and likely sent home to his country – and three innocent people might be alive today.”

For their part, the authorities in Middlesex County are trying to blame this on ICE. They’re saying that ICE failed to issue an order which would have “authorized Middlesex County to turn over custody of Mr. Perez.” But that’s the upshot of what a detainer does. They asked Middlesex to hold him so they could pick him up. Instead, he was released and now two men and a woman are dead in Missouri.

“This tragedy might have been avoided had it not been for the reckless policy required of the Middlesex County Jail by their county officials,” said John Tsoukaris, Field Office Director of ERO Newark. “Despite such policies, ICE ERO will continue to enforce federal immigration law and prioritize public safety in the community.”  Tsoukaris further explained, “We have tried unsuccessfully to work with Middlesex County Jail in the interest of public safety to accept detainers and to contact ICE prior to releasing criminals. There have been other cases where ICE detainers were not honored and those released went on to commit serious crimes. In this most recent case, Perez had a violent history, but despite that, the detainer was not honored. We hope that this tragic turn of events forces Middlesex to reconsider its policy and that the local elected officials stop protecting criminal aliens.”