An illegal alien has been arrested by federal immigration officials after local officials in Oklahoma released him despite a lodged detainer request.
Thankfully ICE was able to track down 38-year-old Salvadorian national Antonio Ulises Perez, but not before the alleged rapist went back to his alleged victim’s home to "re-victimize" and harass her and others.
ICE issued the following statement regarding the incident:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Antonio Ulises Perez, a 38-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador accused of rape, Wednesday, after the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) failed to honor an ICE detainer and released him from custody.
Almost immediately following his release from the Oklahoma County Jail on Oct. 9, Ulises Perez went to the home of the woman he is alleged to have raped. The victim contacted the police and Ulises Perez fled the scene.
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ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the OCSO on Oct. 8 requesting that they transfer custody of Ulises Perez to ICE in the event that he was scheduled to be released from OCSO custody. However, OCSO released Ulises Perez around 3 a.m. on Oct. 9, about an hour after notifying ICE, that he was scheduled to be released preventing deportation officers any reasonable opportunity to take custody.
Marc Moore, field office director for ICE Dallas, called it "unconscionable that someone who is sworn to uphold the law would find it acceptable to release an alleged rapist who is illegally present in the U.S. back into the community when there are other options available under federal immigration law."
"Within a few hours of being released, this illegal alien was back at the home of the rape victim where he was free to re-victimize her and harm other members of the community," said Moore in the press release. "Fortunately, ICE deportation officers were able to quickly locate this individual and safely take him back into custody.”
ICE provided that after further investigation it learned the Oklahoma City Police Department (OCPD) had to process Perez for release on Oct. 8 as he was arrested “on suspicion of rape” and did not have formal charges, but that Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) refused to honor the already active detainer and let him go at 3 a.m. on Oct. 9.
The sheriff's office maintains that it did contact ICE and gave the agency "an hour and a half to take the individual into custody," Fox News reports.
ICE says that “this is not an isolated event.”
“Over the past few months ago, Oklahoma County has routinely failed to honor ICE detainers by releasing criminal aliens back into the local community before ICE has the opportunity to take custody,” the statement reads.