Chuck Grassley: Teen’s killers may have jumped border as unaccompanied minors
Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The three teens police believe killed a high school student in Loudoun County last month all entered the U.S. as illegal immigrant children, were released into society and skipped their deportation court hearings, a top senator revealed Tuesday as he demanded answers.
“Had these suspects appeared for their mandatory court date, they would have likely not had the opportunity to murder a 17-year-old high school student from Loudoun County,” Sen. Charles E. Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The Iowa Republican said his committee has received information that the three suspects all entered the U.S. as part of the surge of illegal immigrant children that jumped the southwest border over the last few years, and said two of the three may have had ties to MS-13.
Danny Centeno-Miranda was killed Sept. 4. One 17-year-old classmate, a Mexican, has been charged with murder, while the two teens with gang ties have both been charged as accessories to the shooting and with possession of a firearm while in the country illegally.
Mr. Grassley said the gang ties should have been red flags to Homeland Security, which even as it eases enforcement on most illegal immigrants has insisted it remains vigilant about deporting gang members.
Children caught crossing the border without parents are considered special cases and most are quickly processed and released to social workers, who then try to place them with other relatives or foster families.
The Washington, D.C., area, with its large population of Central American migrants, has been one of the top destinations for those children over the last two years. Nearly 400 have been placed with sponsors in Loudoun County alone, according to government statistics.
The immigration court system is clogged with cases, and the illegal immigrants often never even bother to show for their court dates, leaving them living in the shadows, where they are deemed a lower priority for deportation by an Obama administration that says it’s trying to focus on already convicted serious criminals.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/27/teens-killers-may-have-jumped-border-unaccompanied/
