Sanctuary City Defends Releasing Illegal Alien MS-13 Accused Murderers: ‘A Detainer Is Not a Warrant’

The sanctuary city of Prince George’s County, Maryland is defending itself after releasing two illegal alien MS-13 Gang members who went on to allegedly murder a 14-year-old girl.

During a press conference on Wednesday, the Prince George’s County jail director told local media that the sanctuary jurisdiction does not honor detainers by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to hold criminal illegal aliens in custody so they can be deported.

“A detainer is not a warrant, it’s a civil detainer. It’s actually a request for localities to hold inmates until ICE decides whether they want to come for them or not. And following that guidance, Prince George’s County does not notify ICE in cases…” Prince George’s County jail director said.

Last week, illegal alien MS-13 gang members Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce, 16-years-old, and Joel Ernesto Escobar, 17-years-old, were charged with first-degree murder — along with 14-year-old Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi — in the death of 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz in Prince George’s County, as Breitbart News reported.

According to police, the two illegal alien MS-13 gang members and Hernandez-Nucamendi met the 14-year-old victim at an apartment complex before taking her into a wooded area nearby. In the wooded area, police say the three beat the girl with a baseball bat and stabbed her to death with a machete.

Now, the pair of illegal alien MS-13 gang members and Hernandez-Nucamendi have been charged with murdering Funes-Diaz.

Last year, Fuentes-Ponce and Escobar were released from custody by Prince George’s County officials after being charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, participation in gang activity, conspiracy to commit murder, and attempted robbery.

At the time, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency had requested that the two illegal alien gang members not be released back into the community and instead be turned over to their custody for deportation.

Prince George’s County, a sanctuary city, released the illegal aliens anyway, and they were never able to be arrested or deported by ICE.

Fuentes first arrived in the U.S. at the Texas-Mexico border in December 2015 as part of a family unit. He and the other family members were paroled into the U.S. Though a judge requested that the illegal alien be deported in March 2017, he never arrived for his court hearing and was subsequently never deported.

Likewise, Escobar entered the Texas-Mexico border as an unaccompanied juvenile in August 2016. Instead of being deported, he was released to family members living in Washington, D.C. where he has lived since illegally entering the country.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.