CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE: Countdown: Top stories of 2018
by WorldTribune Staff, December 30, 2018
The illegal immigrant accused of murdering a California police officer should have been deported for previous criminal offenses but was allowed to remain in the country and free due to California’s status as a sanctuary state, the sheriff investigating the officer’s death said.
“I’m suggesting the outcome could have been different if law enforcement wasn’t restricted, prohibited and had their hands tied because of political interference,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson told reporters on Dec. 28.
Gustavo Perez Arriaga was arrested in the shooting death of Newman police Cpl. Ronil Singh.
Christianson said that, “under SB 54 in California based on two arrests for DUI and other active warrants this criminal was out there, law enforcement would have been prevented, prohibited from sharing any information with ICE about this criminal gang member, ladies and gentlemen this is not how you protect a community.”
Under SB 56, state and local law enforcement are not allowed to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest people for immigration enforcement purposes. No agency money or personnel can be used for these purposes.
The law took effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
Law enforcement are prevented from inquiring into an individual’s immigration status, detaining an individual based on a hold request, providing information regarding a person’s release date, or transferring an individual to immigration authorities unless allowed by a warrant. Law enforcement from state agencies are also prevented from participating in arrests based on civil immigration warrants and performing the functions of an immigration officer.
Perez Arriaga, from Mexico, had been in the U.S. for several years after illegally entering the country through the Arizona border, Christianson said.
Perez Arriaga is accused of shooting Singh after the officer had reportedly pulled him over for suspected driving under the influence.
Sheriff Christianson said that “this is a criminal illegal alien, with prior criminal activity that should have been reported to ICE. If he wasn’t here, he wouldn’t have been driving drunk and he wouldn’t be reported to officer Singh and the encounter, the stop, the enforcement stop, potentially never would have occurred.”
“My point is why are we providing sanctuary to gang members, criminals, it’s a conversation we need to have,” the sheriff said.
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