Tensions rise as N.C. sheriffs refuse to honor ICE detainers
Jose Barajas-Diaz was driving drunk when he struck and killed a motorcyclist in late January 2019.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department arrested Barajas-Diaz for driving while impaired and felony death by motor vehicle. Because Barajas-Diaz was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, ICE issued a detainer request the next day, and followed the action with an administrative arrest warrant.
After spending nine months in the county jail, he was convicted on Oct. 24 and given a five-year suspended sentence. But the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office did not honor the ICE detainer, and Barajas-Diaz was released.
ICE, calling Barajas-Diaz a “serious public safety threat,†arrested him eight days later on Nov. 1, and he is in the process of being deported.
https://mediahub.unc.edu/tensions-rise-as-n-c-sheriffs-refuse-to-honor-ice-detainers/Fixed url - PeteS in CA
