Montgomery County, Maryland is taking criticism for enabling rapists. As I discussed here, at least seven illegal immigrants were arrested and charged with sexual crimes during a six week period this summer.

Montgomery County enables rape and other crimes by illegal immigrants by refusing to cooperate with the federal government in removing criminal illegals. For example, Rodrigo Castro-Montejo, a Salvadoran national living in the U.S. illegally, was arrested in Montgomery County and charged with second-degree rape and second-degree assault. ICE placed a detainer request on Castro-Montejo, but the request was ignored and he was released from custody the following day.

We’re a sanctuary county, don’t you know.

In response to criticism the County has received, our idiot County Council issued this statement:

Montgomery County is committed to building and maintaining a safe and inclusive community for our residents. Understanding, tolerance, and respect are hallmarks of Montgomery County. Social justice for all is what we strive to achieve in our County. Rape and sexual assault are despicable acts of violence and aggression that unfortunately occur across all cultures and communities. As local elected officials, public safety has and will always be our top priority. Montgomery County has a Victim Assistance and Sexual Assault Program that aids rape and sexual assault survivors in our community, and we fully support the work of these programs. The recent crimes of rape and the sexual assaults that have occurred in Montgomery County are horrendously vile acts, and the alleged perpetrators of these crimes are currently going through the legal process and will receive their judgements in court. The Montgomery County Police Department arrests and the State’s Attorney’s Office prosecutes individuals who commit violent criminal acts in our community. We rely on and support them as they work together to deliver justice to rape and sexual assault victims and their families. There has been a lot inaccurate information spread by the White House, President Trump, Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli, local and national conservative news outlets and neo-Nazi sympathizers regarding our criminal justice system and its process. These individuals and organizations should be ashamed for spreading false information seeking to establish a baseless, illogical and xenophobic connection between a person’s failure to obtain legal status and their propensity to commit a sex crime. Montgomery County has earned a reputation as a great place to live, work and raise a family, not despite of, but because of who we are. We are teachers, scholars, scientists, engineers and our small businesses power the engines of our economy. We will not be defined by a racist paintbrush designed to stoke unreasonable fear and tensions in our county.

But the most troublesome connection, which the County ignores, isn’t between being an illegal immigrant and committing sex crimes. The most troublesome connection is between being an illegal alien arrested for committing (non-immigration) crimes and committing sex (and other) crimes upon release. By refusing to cooperate with the federal government in the removal of these criminals, County officials bear responsibility for the crimes these illegal aliens commit post-release.

No amount of name-calling by the County Council can mitigate this responsibility.

It’s true, of course, that non-illegal immigrants too commit crimes upon being released from jail. However, these criminals cannot be deported. Criminal illegal immigrants can and should be. But the ultra-leftists who dominate the Montgomery County government protect them from deportation, thus enablng them to prey on the community, including recent immigrants.

Sharon Bauer, president of the Montgomery County Federation of Republican Women, responded to the County Council’s nauseating statement this way:

We are Montgomery County mothers, grandmothers, professional women and stay-at-home moms who once again call upon all our county elected officials to focus their efforts on protecting everyone in Montgomery County, including the most vulnerable in our county — young women and girls, especially those in our immigrant communities. Criminals and gang members should not have the opportunity to prey on young girls. What kind of elected officials would choose to give “sanctuary” to those who commit such acts, when they have every opportunity and resource to remove them BEFORE they cause such human devastation. We are outraged and horrified by the seven rapes in Montgomery County reported in August alone, of innocent young women and girls, some as young as 11 years old. Further, we are shocked and deeply disappointed that the Montgomery County Council chose to use its official position to issue an outrageously ideological statement. They chose to describe Montgomery County residents and all those who voiced a justifiable and sincere outrage over these reported crimes, as “Neo-Nazi sympathizers” which only foments hate and division in the county, in order to deflect away from their failure as our elected officials. We call on all County elected officials to focus their time and attention on the tasks of properly running the county government and most importantly protecting the most vulnerable in Montgomery County, including in our immigrant communities.

Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen. The priorities of the County’s elected officials lie elsewhere, far to the left.