It appears a local jail in North Carolina is no longer prioritizing public safety after releasing an illegal alien from detention who is connected to a violent murder.

Sergio Coello-Perez, a 17-year-old criminal alien from Mexico, was allowed by the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court to return to his home in East Charlotte on Dec. 27 after signing a written promise to appear at his next court hearing despite the courts ordering him to jail without bond last year. And the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Department happily complied.

On May 13, Coello-Perez and another suspect allegedly murdered Nicholas Antoine Boger while attempting to steal his vehicle. Boger was shot in the head and then run over by a vehicle, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) press release.

Court records also show that Coello-Perez allegedly committed more crimes that evening, including larceny and breaking-and-entering. The police later found drugs and an empty gun magazine with Coello-Perez when they executed a search warrant that led to his arrest.

Thankfully, Coello-Perez is back in jail after prosecutors secured a court order that led to his rearrest, where he will (hopefully) remain until trial.

The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office immediately denied any responsibility for Coello-Perez’s release and categorized the fiasco as a “clerical error” made by the Clerk of Court.

Yet, what the sheriff’s office fails to recognize, or even acknowledge, is that his release could have been avoided had it honored a detainer issued by federal immigration authorities shortly after Coello-Perez’s initial arrest. However, it chose to ignore the detainer and proceed with his release anyway. To make matters worse, the sheriff’s office will not honor any future detainers following a recent policy change.

On December 5, newly-elected Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden (D) announced that he would no longer honor immigration detainers for criminal aliens and would terminate the county’s 287(g) agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) effective immediately.

He campaigned heavily on this issue during the 2018 election and made it a priority for his first term. His rationale? Perhaps both tragically and ironically for Nicholas Boger and his family, Sheriff McFadden believes the 287(g) program “erodes trust in the community” and “does not keep the community safe”, which is simply inaccurate.

To the contrary, 287(g) empowers local law enforcement to enforce our immigration laws and keep dangerous criminal aliens off the street. It could have prevented Coello-Perez from being released back into the community. Fortunately, Coello-Perez is back in custody before he could inflict further harm but the incident graphically illustrates to the public the dangers associated with ignoring detainers. In this situation, the sheriff’s office achieved the opposite of what McFadden promised—it put a dangerous murder suspect back into the community.

Coello-Perez should never have been allowed to live in the United States, let alone commit a vicious crime against a U.S. citizen. His release from jail further aggravates an already tragic situation for the victim’s family and underscores the real harm of sanctuary policies that prioritize the interests of illegal aliens over the safety of the community. Imagine if he was able to commit another violent crime after his release?

Had McFadden honored the detainer, Coello-Perez would not have been released from jail but straight into ICE’s custody. Yet, McFadden seems more interested in pandering to political pressure groups than protecting American citizens and legal immigrants, and that’s a dangerous policy. The community deserves better from its sheriff.