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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) scolded a sanctuary county in Maryland after an illegal immigrant accused of murder was released from local custody despite a retainer request.
ICE arrested 32-year-old Rene Pop-Chub, a Guatemalan national, in Hyattsville, Maryland, on Saturday, four days after Prince Georges County Department of Corrections released Pop-Chub back into the community.
Prince Georges County Department of Corrections (PGCDC) failed to honor an ICE immigration detainer on Pop-Chub, according to ICE, which said Pop-Chub is facing charges of murder, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
“When jurisdictions refuse to honor our immigration detainers, they put their own communities at risk — as was the case here, where a dangerous illegal alien charged with murder and assault was released back onto the streets,” ICE Baltimore Acting Field Office Director Nikita Baker said in a written statement.
Authorities caught up with Pop-Chub on Aug. 19, 2024, when the Prince George’s County Police Department arrested him and charged him with first-degree assault.
ICE Baltimore lodged an immigration detainer with the (PGCDC) on Oct. 9, 2024, and later that month the District Court for Prince George’s County forwarded Pop-Chub’s case to the Circuit Court for Prince George’s for charges of murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment.
The PGCDC, however, declined to honor ICE’s immigration detainer and released Pop-Chub from custody April 8, ICE said.
Following his arrest on Saturday, Pop-Chub was transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.