Sanctuary City Law Allows Dangerous Gang Member To Walk Free

A sobering reminder of what sanctuary city laws can result in, fortunately, this man was captured by ICE before he could hurt anyone.

Like Seattle, San Francisco, and other sanctuary cities around the U.S., New York City now follows the policy of not assisting federal agents in locating known illegal immigrants-even if they're wanted for crimes. Major Bill de Blasio's policy recently resulted in a member of one of the most notorious and dangerous gangs to walk out of a New York prison untouched. Some cities, such as Seattle, covertly go out of their way to hinder federal ICE investigations and actions.

19-year-old Estivan Rafael Marques Velasquez, a Salvidoran national, was in the Rikers Island prison serving a sentence for disorderly conduct since 2015.

A immigration judge had ordered he be removed, and last May ICE agents demanded he be released to their custody when his sentence was completed.

But on February 16th of this year, Velasquez walked out of Rikers, nobody from ICE was there to take him into custody because they were not notified of his release. It was due to New York's sanctuary policies.

According to the New York Post, ICE agents were able to track him down and capture him in Queens. Velasquez has a violent criminal history as a member of the MS-13 gang, and officials say he is now in detention awaiting pending removal.

But apparently his original crime that landed him in Riker's was one of about 170 actions now deemed by New York officials not to be of a threatening enough nature to warrant deportation--even if the person is here illegally.

It has been reported a man in Sunnyside has started a petition to make it a sanctuary city. There's also been a proposal from a Kennewick civic leader that would prevent law enforcement from honoring ICE or federal immigration pursuit and apprehension efforts.