California Releases Convicted Child Murderer, Despite ICE Detainer

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an immigration detainer on a Salvadoran national serving time for a murder conviction at the California Department of Corrections at Pleasant Valley Prison in Chowchilla, California, Aug. 28, 2013. The request was not honored, and Carlos Morales-Ramirez was released onto the streets Dec. 4.

On Jan. 9, 1998, Morales-Ramirez, now 44, was convicted of second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and great bodily injury to a child causing death by the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

ICE’s ERO Los Angeles officers arrested Morales-Ramirez during a targeted enforcement action, Dec. 10, and served him with a Notice to Appear (NTA) pursuant to section 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Morales-Ramirez’s conviction makes him amenable to be placed in removal proceedings and he remains in ICE custody pending the outcome of his hearing.

“California’s sanctuary policies continue to fail residents by allowing convicted criminals like Morales-Ramirez to walk free – state officials and advocates need to take a hard look at the reality, and potential consequences, of these misguided laws that leave potential victims wildly unprotected from very egregious criminal offenders,” Marin said.

ICE lodges immigration detainers on individuals who have been arrested on local criminal charges and who are amenable to removal, so that the agency can take custody of that individual when they released from local custody within secure confines. When local law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its national security mission.

In FY 2019, ICE arrested individuals with more than 1,900 convictions and charges for homicide, 1,800 for kidnapping, 12,000 sex offenses, 5,000 sexual assaults, 45,000 assaults, 67,000 crimes involving drugs, 10,000 weapons offenses, and 74,000 DUIs.