Sanctuary cities and the mainstream media are dedicating a significant amount of time and money to vilify immigration officials for doing their jobs – enforcing immigration law as it is currently written. They have also made it harder for local law enforcement officers to protect the public by preventing them from coordinating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
For example, a Washington State Patrol officer was placed on administrative leave for notifying ICE that he encountered a previously deported felon. Media organizations have been looking for (or manufacturing) the saddest-sounding stories they can find, like a transgender woman who was trying to file a domestic violence claim at a Texas courthouse. However, what many media outlets covering this story gloss over or ignore, is the fact that the transgender alien was a criminal who had been deported from the country seven times, and has been previously charged with mail theft, false impersonation, domestic violence and probation violations.
Reporting on these cases would be understandable – even commendable — if outlets were willing to present the entire picture. However, they are only interested in strengthening an open borders agenda, not conducting honest journalism. So in order to help them out, the following is a non-comprehensive list of dangerous criminals – some of whom were released by sanctuary cities – captured by immigration officials and law enforcement during the second half of February. Thousands of similar arrests occur every year.
- February 14: Border Patrol agents captured a 25 year old U.S. citizen charged with sexual assault of a minor as he tried to flee into Canada with his 13-year-old victim.
- February 16: a self-admitted MS-13 gang member was released from custody in New York City, a sanctuary city, despite an ICE detainer being issued against him. ICE officials were able to track down and arrest him the same day. His previous charges ranged from reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct and criminal possession of a weapon.
- February 16: agents at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Tuscon, Arizona, arrested a permanent resident alien smuggling three illegal aliens in the interior of the country. They also found a 9mm handgun and ammunition in the vehicle.
- February 19: border agents arrested a criminal illegal alien near Yuma, Arizona, who had been previously removed as an aggravated felon, charged with indecent exposure and convicted of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.
- February 20: an MS-13 gang member was arrested by Border Patrol agents near the border along with another man. Both had entered the country illegally.
- February 21: Border Patrol agents arrested a man who was wanted for a 2007 murder in Wichita, Kansas, while he was trying to flee the country in El Paso, Texas.
- February 22: immigration officials near Lake Charles, Louisiana, stopped a van that was carrying eight illegal aliens. One of the eight was a previously deported Honduran MS-13 member convicted of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
- February 22: Border Patrol arrested an admitted Sureño gang member in the Calexico, California, area. It was later discovered the man served an eight-year prison sentence for felony assault, and was also previously convicted of grand theft auto.
- February 23: CBP Air and Marine Operations (AMO) concluded weeklong efforts in the Jacksonville, Florida, area that prevented $75 million worth in cocaine from entering the United States.
As detailed in the preceding examples, the laudable work conducted by immigration officials is far different than what the media typically reports. It would require volumes to give due justice to the full extent of their commendable efforts in the first two months of 2017 alone. They’re involved in tasks ranging from apprehending dangerous criminal aliens, combatting drug and human trafficking, to stopping criminals from fleeing the country.
These stories are easy to find because they occur daily. However, these officials almost never receive significant media attention or the thanks they deserve for keeping Americans safe. According to ICE statistics, of the more than 65,000 illegal aliens removed from the interior of the country in FY 2016, the “vast majority were convicted criminals.” Censoring the heroism of American law enforcement officers is an intentional and crucial part of the open-border lobby’s efforts to advance its agenda using a false narrative. The mainstream media is eager to comply, further earning them the appropriate epithet “fake news.”