U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) logged three immigration detainer requests for an illegal alien accused of repeatedly stabbing Adams County Magistrate David Blackett in Denver last year, according to reports. Jose Armenta-Vazquez, 39, is accused of stabbing the judge in the magistrate's east Denver home back in August.
One month before the nearly-fatal stabbing, Armenta-Vazquez was released by the Denver Sheriff's Department for the third time despite active immigration detainers logged against him in each case. According to Breitbart News, the illegal alien has been arrested 36 times on a wide range of charges, including child abuse, car theft, assault and traffic violations. ICE announced the Mexican citizen was first ordered to be removed from the United States back in Mar. 1999.
It's not clear when Vazquez became a suspect in the stabbing of the judge, but the criminal alien was again arrested in October, after the judge's stabbing, and released the same month in defiance of a fourth immigration detainer logged by the agency. Vazquez was again apprehended in December on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon related to a separate incident. He was finally charged for the Blackett attack on Jan. 15, 2020, according to CBS4 News in Denver.
(Via 9 News)
The detainer requests remain a sore subject in an ongoing feud between the city of Denver and ICE. Denver city officials have repeatedly said they cannot continue to hold anyone – no matter their immigration status – without a signed order from a judge.
ICE leadership, on the other hand, has repeatedly criticized the city of Denver for not being more cooperative with its detainer requests. Detainer requests are largely administrative in nature – they do not come with a judge’s signature -- and seek to ask a jail to hold a soon-to-be-released inmate for an additional two days. ICE has issued detainer requests as a way to provide its agents additional time to pick up inmates it believes are living in the country illegally.
When an inmate under a detainer request leaves the Denver jail – in lieu of bond, for example – Denver has elected only to give ICE what amounts to a short “heads up” via fax of the imminent release. Sometimes the fax comes an half-hour before release, and sometimes it comes a few hours before release, according to documents.
“They’re not allowing us to assume custody in their jails,” ICE Deputy Executive Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Henry Lucero told Fox News last month when asked about Denver’s practice.
An Ohio judge made headlines for admitting that he calls ICE whenever he suspects an illegal alien of being inside his courtroom. Other judges may be wise to follow suit. Sanctuary policies protect criminal aliens while jeopardizing the safety of American citizens.
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