Authorities in Maryland have arrested an illegal immigrant for the murder of his girlfriend, months after he was released into the country by the Biden-Harris administration.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that 23-year-old El Salvadoran national, Gerber Luis Sanchez Centeno, who was in the United States illegally, was arrested by Montgomery County police on September 20 and charged with the murder of his girlfriend. The Salvadoran national had been arrested by the Border Patrol in June but was enrolled in a program that allowed him to avoid detention and be released onto U.S. soil. (Related: In just 48 hours, ICE arrests four illegal immigrants on sex charges hiding out in elite vacation spot)
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Sanchez was arrested by the Border Patrol near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, while attempting to illegally enter the United States. He was then assigned to the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which allows illegal immigrants to avoid detention by tracking them with a GPS monitor, but was fired from ATD on August 8 after he absconded from the program.
After being released by federal immigration authorities, Sanchez headed to Montgomery County, Maryland.
NEW YORK – MAY 11: Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escort a Mexican gang member to court after he was arrested in New York City on May 11, 2005. (Photo by Robert Nickelsburg/Getty Images)
Dania Carolina Cruz Mejia's body was discovered in her Gaithersburg home on Sept. 18 by her brother, who responded to a 911 call about a fight between a female tenant and her boyfriend. According to Authorities quickly identified the boyfriend, Sanchez, as a suspect and charged him with first-degree murder two days later.
According to Fox 5DC, Cruz Mejia's brother exchanged text messages with Sanchez after discovering her body, in which Sanchez reportedly told his brother he was sorry, that he didn't mean to kill her, and that he was going to turn himself in to police.
Sanchez remains in the custody of Montgomery County authorities, ICE confirmed Wednesday, and the agency also confirmed it has filed a detention request with the Montgomery County Detention Center, asking the center to notify ICE if it releases Sanchez from custody.
Montgomery County authorities have a controversial history of complying with ICE detention orders.
County Executive Marc Elrich rescinded an executive order he signed in November 2019 after months of national news about illegal immigrants committing rape and other violent crimes in the county. His new order allows ICE agents to detain illegal immigrants in special “selected areas” within the Montgomery County Jail.
DCNF reached out to the Montgomery County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Commissioner to ask how they would respond to the detention request for Sanchez, but did not receive a response from the department.
The case also marks another high-profile instance of illegal immigrants participating in the ATD program allegedly committing other violent crimes.
Two Venezuelan nationals have been charged with the rape and strangulation murder of 12-year-old Texas girl Jocelyn Nungaray. He was reportedly released Josefina Cardona Cardona, a Guatemalan immigrant who entered the country under the ATD program, was also referred to the ATD program after she was arrested for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill two witnesses to her son's murder.
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