Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers criticized Montgomery County officials for releasing an illegal alien accused of sexually abusing a child.
Montgomery County officials released Hernandez-Morales on bond and into the community on Nov. 5, ignoring an ICE detainer the federal agency placed on him and forcing agents to apprehend him in the streets, which they eventually did.
ICE officials arrested Morales Hernandez in Fairfax on Nov. 8.
Acting ICE Baltimore Field Officer Director Frank Madrigal blasted the county for its actions, saying that local and federal law enforcement should work together to "best serve public safety."
"Montgomery County had indicated they would securely transfer dangerous criminals to our custody rather than release them to the community where they can reoffend. These actions indicate they intend otherwise," Madrigal said in a statement, referring to the county's partial reversal of a sanctuary policy.
“You need to give us a fair chance to get down there, and I assure you, we’re going to do everything we can to respond to a facility whether it’s in Hagerstown, Rockville, or Ocean city,” he added.
According to WJLA, ICE was given a 15-minute notice before Hernandez-Morales was released.
Madrigal also pointed out that in addition to both time and effort put in by law enforcement, extra taxpayer dollars were also spent on apprehending and detaining the man.
“There was a lot of work that seemed to happen on the ground with Montgomery County law enforcement and Fairfax County law enforcement getting this individual arrested, brought across the Potomac River to go to trial. Now we’re kind of seeing that be squandered. It raises some real concerns about how serious Montgomery County is about public safety,” Madrigal said, reported WJLA.
“This isn’t a game. This is serious to us. We want to be able to do things in a more controlled, organized way. What we’re asking for really isn’t complicated,” he added.
A spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich told Fox 5 DC the county released Hernandez-Morales because it doesn't "have a detainer policy."
"So when individuals are finished processing for release, we follow the decision of the Attorney General that we can't hold an individual, for any reason, once they have been cleared for release," the spokesman, Barry Hudson, said in a statement.
The policy, passed only three months ago, banned ICE officials from accessing secure portions of Montgomery County jail. It’s reversal, which was effectively immediately, means ICE can now access “identified areas” of the jail to “ensure that transfers are conducted in a safe environment.”
The policy says ICE must submit an immigration detainer and arrive at the jail an hour before the inmate is set to be released, reported WJLA. If ICE fails to comply for whatever reason, the county will release the illegal immigrant into the community, just as the county was doing before, regardless of the crime the person has been charged with.
According to the station, the discharge time can take anywhere between less than an hour to half a day, depending on several factors such as the number of jail staff, population of the inmates at that particular jail, and home verification checks.
However, ICE officials have repeatedly said that that timeframe is usually not enough for agents to get jails and securely make the custody transfer.
“That is bad for public safety. It’s bad for Maryland’s citizens. It’s bad for Maryland’s immigrants. Somebody is going to get hurt,” said Madrigal, WJLA reported.