An illegal immigrant from Mexico recently charged with stabbing a Denver-area judge was reportedly the subject of three deportation attempts that failed due to local sanctuary policies in the months leading up to the alleged crime.

According to a new investigative report from KUSA-TV, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement lodged three separate detainer requests for Jose Armenta-Vasquez, 39, last year — only to have Denver Sheriff's Department deputies ignore or deny them each time.

ICE submits detainer requests when someone suspected of being in the country illegally is arrested for a crime. The detainers are designed to inform local law enforcement so that they can hold the individual in question until federal immigration officers perform an investigation.

In this case, Denver law enforcement chose to release Armenta-Vasquez back into the public without giving ICE "adequate notification." Just one month after the third detainer request, police believe that Armenta-Vasquez repeatedly stabbed Adams County Magistrate David Blackett near his east Denver home. Blackett nearly died from his stab wounds, KCNC-TV reported.

Though the crime was committed last summer, the suspect was not arrested until Jan. 14.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation reported that Armenta-Vasquez has been arrested a whopping 36 times over the past two decades and has used two dozen aliases.

KUSA reported:

The detainer requests remain a sore subject in an ongoing feud between the city of Denver and ICE. Denver city officials have repeatedly said they cannot continue to hold anyone — no matter their immigration status — without a signed order from a judge.



ICE leadership, on the other hand, has repeatedly criticized the city of Denver for not being more cooperative with its detainer requests. ...



... When an inmate under a detainer request leaves the Denver jail — in lieu of bond, for example — Denver has elected only to give ICE what amounts to a short "heads up" via fax of the imminent release. Sometimes the fax comes a half-hour before release, and sometimes it comes a few hours before release, according to documents.

"They're not allowing us to assume custody in their jails," ICE Deputy Executive Director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Henry Lucero said on Fox News last month with regard to Denver's practices.

Denver is not the only jurisdiction in the U.S. that has adopted sanctuary practices that ultimately put the public at risk.

A recent Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General report found that sanctuary policies employed in jurisdictions around the country have amounted to more than 17,000 illegal aliens being at large as of last year.

(H/T: Town Hall)

