ICE Captures Illegal Alien Fugitive Wanted for ‘Sanctuary’ Sex Crime

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Atlanta caught an illegal alien wanted for allegedly committing aggravated sexual abuse in Chicago.

Gerardo Diaz-Rodriguez, a Mexican national, was arrested by ICE deportation officers on May 4 during a targeted enforcement operation in conjunction with the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, ICE said in a statement.

Diaz-Rodriguez was initially arrested on April 20 in Clayton County on a misdemeanor charge while using a fictitious name and was released. An ICE deportation officer later reviewed the record and discovered that Diaz-Rodriguez used a fictitious name and that there was an active warrant out for his arrest in Cook County, Illinois. Diaz-Rodriguez was taken into custody and re-booked into Clayton County jail on May 4 and is waiting to be extradited to Cook County to face a charge of aggravated sexual abuse.

ICE has filed an immigration detainer against Diaz-Rodriguez and will seek to deport him after he has faced the criminal charge in Cook County, although the county is considered a sanctuary jurisdiction.

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher said that while ICE is doing the right thing by extraditing this individual to face justice, he does not expect Cook County to do the right thing.

“While Cook County’s practice of denying ICE access to its facilities and refusing to honor any ICE detainer is a serious threat to public safety, this agency nevertheless is acting in good faith to return a fugitive to justice,” Gallagher said. “ICE takes this action despite the fact Cook County would not do the same in return and will almost certainly necessitate the expenditure of limited ICE resources to recapture this individual in the future.”

Diaz-Rodriguez was allowed to voluntarily depart the U.S. instead of formal removal in April 2003 and at some point, illegally re-entered. 

Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra.