Accused Oregon Rapist Deported 13 Times Since 2008

(Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

An illegal alien accused of raping an Oregon woman has been deported at least 13 times since 2008 and was the subject of an ICE detainer request placed in December of last year while he was being held in the Multnomah County Jail on local charges. The county released him anyway.

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The Daily Caller:

Because Oregon law prohibits police from using agency resources to enforce immigration law, jail officials released Martinez the following day without notifying ICE.

“ICE last encountered Mr. Martinez Dec. 7, 2016, at the Multnomah County Jail and lodged an immigration detainer against him at that time requesting that the agency be notified prior to his release,” Kice said in a statement. “However, despite the detainer, local authorities released Mr. Martinez back into the community the following day without providing any notification to ICE.”

Martinez is accused of two separate attacks against women in Portland on Monday, reports local CBS affiliate KOIN. Police say Martinez first broke into the apartment of a 65-year-old woman, bound her hands and feet with scarves, and proceeded to sexually assault her.

Later that day, he confronted a woman in a parking garage with a knife and threatened to kill her. Police suspect that Martinez was attempting to kidnap the woman as she left work.

As KOIN reports, Martinez has a lengthy criminal history in Oregon and California. He has been arrested at least 20 times for offenses ranging from burglary and drug possession to auto theft and hit and run, according to police records. Along with local charges, Martinez has been deported back to Mexico on several occasions, most recently on Nov. 2, 2016.

Oregon has for many years been one of the nation’s most restrictive states when it comes to allowing local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. A 1986 law prevents police from using any resources to arrest or detain people whose “only violation of law is that they are persons of foreign citizenship present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws.” The Oregon legislature passed a law in late June that expands that prohibition to all “public bodies” within the state.

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) policy prevents the agency from honoring ICE detainers, which are administrative requests to hold a criminal alien for up to 48 hours so ICE officers can take the suspect into custody. MCSO only holds suspects for immigration agents if they are subject to a federal arrest warrant signed by a judge or magistrate.

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Just to be clear: If there had been a local arrest warrant on Martinez for rape or murder, he would have been allowed to make bail and then been released. And ICE would have been powerless to stop it.

We read stories like this just about every day. It highlights the utter stupidity and madness of sanctuary city policies that sacrifice public safety for the inexplicable liberal notion of compassion. The official explanation is that local jurisdictions “waste” valuable resources by holding criminal illegal aliens for ICE. It’s a load of crap and everyone knows it. First of all, it isn’t a “waste” if you take a violent criminal off the streets in order to protect the public. That’s called “doing your job.”

Second, there’s no doubt that many jurisdictions are strapped for cash. But why not do a better job of prioritizing funds so that money is spent on programs that actually impact public safety? The small amount of money that a local police department will spend on keeping someone locked up for 48 hours is well spent compared to other programs.

But we all know it’s not about money — it’s politics. Every time a criminal illegal alien commits a violent crime (including drunk driving), some family pays for a local government’s disinterest in assisting ICE in removing threats from their streets. Trump’s idea to deny some funds to sanctuary cities is fine. But it will take the Supreme Court to decide the issue once and for all.

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