ICE arrests child sex offender, illegal immigrant after California releases him from prison without contacting authorities for deportation

An illegal immigrant from Colombia who spent time in prison for sexually assaulting a minor in California has been captured in Boston, Massachusetts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being released from prison in California.  

The 23-year-old sex offender was able to make it across the country and evade capture for months thanks to California's sanctuary state laws because officials refused to inform ICE of his release from prison. 

According to ICE, the Enforcement and Removal Operations team detained the Colombian national, whose identity has not been released, on April 2. He was taken into custody and will remain under the watch of federal immigration agents pending deportation proceedings. 

"This child sex offender's presence in Massachusetts constitutes a significant threat to the children of our communities," said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons. "He victimized a child in California before moving to Massachusetts. We simply cannot allow him to reoffend and abuse a child here. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing noncitizen sex predators from New England." 

As ICE reported, the man first entered the United States in May 2021 as a nonimmigrant with authorization to remain in the country temporarily. He went on to violate the terms of his visa, remaining in the country after November of that year. 

He was convicted about a year later of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor more than three years younger, and oral copulation of a person under 18. The Victorville, California judge sentenced him to three years in prison for the first offense and one year for the second. 

When he entered the prison system, ICE's Pacific Enforcement Response Center requested advance notification of his release, however San Bernardino County officials released him on an unknown date without informing the agency. 

Under California's sanctuary state laws, law enforcement agencies in the state do not have to cooperate with their federal counterparts, thus allowing them to set illegal immigrants free without so much as a warning to ICE.