ICE Reports Some 'Sanctuary Cities' Now Cooperating With the Agency

Some counties and cities that had previously identified themselves a "sanctuaries" for illegal aliens have begun cooperating with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by informing the agency when they are releasing illegals from jail and giving advanced notice before illegals convicted of violent crimes are released.

It's unknown what ICE is doing with the information. But acting ICE Director P.J. Lechleitner believes that the recent spate of serious crimes committed by illegals has put pressure on some of the cities to change their policies after regretting the release of certain violent illegals.

“You’ve seen some examples of this, where some individuals, unfortunately, were encountered by local law enforcement and because of the policies put in place, either at the state or local level, they weren’t allowed to notify immigration authorities … and all of a sudden you have people being released and reoffending.”

“We don’t want that. We want to make sure that public safety threats are appropriately mitigated,” he said.

So, wait just a sec. Hold the phone. Is he saying that people who have been warning for decades that releasing violent illegal aliens and not telling ICE of their whereabouts — even actively preventing ICE from finding out — aren't right-wing racists after all? 

“We don’t want a situation where we release someone, and they go on to commit even more serious or heinous crime. That’s the thing that we’re always concerned about,” said the top public safety and law enforcement official in Montgomery County, MD, Earl Stoddard. Stodard also directs the county’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

It's maddening to hear some of these same people now when a few years ago they would have been extolling the virtues of illegal immigrants and calling them important "assets" in fighting local crime. Whether in a sanctuary city or not, an illegal alien isn't going to talk to the cops about anything. Full stop. End of story. And to pretend otherwise is political blather, not effective law enforcement.

Baltimore County, virtually next door to Montgomery County, is also changing its tune on illegal immigrants.

“Baltimore County and [ICE] officials agreed to adjustments to current policies to support this shared work, including making every effort to notify ICE officials 48 hours or more prior to an individual’s release whenever possible,” said a county spokesperson. “Baltimore County remains committed to prioritizing public safety while also respecting the constitutional rights of individuals.”

One thing ICE is reluctant to do is go into neighborhoods where illegals are living and arrest them. The stated reason is fear for public safety, but the real reason is the high-profile nature of these arrests and the effect it has on other illegals in the neighborhood.

“At-large arrests put the citizenry at risk because we have to do an arrest in neighborhoods. We shouldn’t have to do that,” Lechleitner said. “Let’s do it in a controlled setting, so everyone’s safe. My folks are safe, the local community’s safe and the noncitizens are safe as well.”

The only threat is from the violent illegal alien. Perhaps police shouldn't go into any neighborhood to arrest a violent criminal out of fear for the innocents. Police are trained to avoid civilian casualties as are ICE agents. It's a cop-out not to arrest someone who may end up being the next murderer of a local nursing student.

This is only a start for sanctuary cities. Full cooperation with ICE is the only answer to avoid the kind of high-profile murders by illegal aliens that have driven the conversation on immigration during the election.