In Montgomery County, Maryland, an El Salvadorian who came into the country illegally was released by county officials despite facing charges of second-degree rape and second-degree assault, according to The Daily Caller.
ICE officially placed a detainer request on Rodrigo Castro-Montejo, 25, after he was arrested, but local authorities refused to cooperate with ICE and allowed him to walk free after his bail was posted.
Castro-Montejo is free because Montgomery is a “sanctuary county.” County executive Mark Elrich (D) recently signed an executive order officially declaring Montgomery status as a “sanctuary county,” which included “[forbidding] police from asking people about their immigration status,” while also “[prohibiting] them from cooperating with federal immigration authorities under most circumstances,” as the Daily Caller notes.
Elrich defended his executive order by claiming that “Montgomery County is a welcoming community that values the diversity of communities that are made up of people from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and nations.”
This is just one of many recent examples of local law enforcement explicitly hindering the efforts of federal authorities to enforce immigration law. The same county in Maryland had previously arrested two other illegal aliens accused of raping an 11-year-old girl; in that instance, Elrich did announce his intentions to work with ICE in detaining the suspects after they were released from police custody.