Three illegal aliens were recently arrested in North Carolina after allegedly trafficking $200,000 worth of methamphetamine. One of the suspects, Cristian Cabrera-Rivas, has already been deported multiple times and is reportedly a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, according to Breitbart.

In December, prior to his most recent arrest, police apprehended Cabrera-Rivas on charges of “assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, assault by pointing a gun, [and]communicating threats and possession of a stolen gun.” However, Mecklenburg County released him despite his alleged criminal actions.

Unfortunately, this comes as no surprise. The county, which was already a sanctuary jurisdiction, elected a new sheriff last year who campaigned against cooperation between local police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Shortly after taking office, he went even further by ending his department’s participation in ICE’s 287(g) program, which allows law enforcement from participating localities to train with ICE in handling federal immigration laws.

But the situation with Cabrera-Rivas isn’t the first time Mecklenburg County released a potentially dangerous illegal alien back into the public. In December, the county accidentally released an illegal inmate, Sergio Coello-Perez, who allegedly committed murder in 2018. Law enforcement managed to detain him again, but the simple fact is both of these blunders occurred because county officials refused to cooperate with federal authorities.

ICE issued a detainer for Coello-Perez after his first arrest that the county refused to acknowledge, and law enforcement had no business releasing an illegal alien like Cabrera-Rivas who already had a long criminal history.

In addition to these two cases, local law enforcement is obviously dealing with a serious crime problem. A quick look at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) data reveals that Mecklenburg County incarcerated almost 500 known illegal aliens in FY 2016. Localities receive reimbursements through SCAAP for illegal alien incarcerations, and the DOJ publicly releases that data each year. The number speaks for itself. With so many criminal aliens taken into custody, it’s time for county officials to do their job and protect their own citizens, rather than people who shouldn’t even be living there.

As for Cabrera-Rivas, at least he is back in prison and this time in Gaston County, where the ICE detainer issued for him is likely to be honored. Hopefully justice will finally be served. However, without a physical barrier and increased security at our southern border, criminal aliens will continue returning to the United States after deportations and will likely commit even more crimes. Without the help of local law enforcement in major jurisdictions, North Carolina residents need all the help they can get.