An Oregon court official has come under fire for allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers who had come to apprehend him.
According to local news reports, Monica Herranz, a Multnomah County judicial referee, was presiding over the drunk driving case of Diddier Pacheco Salazar, who was arrested on Jan. 1 on charges of reckless driving and driving under the influence.
Salazar pleaded innocent on Jan. 3, but entered a guilty plea on Jan. 27, which would have allowed him a deferred sentence and enrollment in a diversion program. That happened to be the same day President Donald Trump signed an executive order on immigration.
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U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said two ICE agents waited outside of the courtroom for the man to emerge after the hearing.
“They were waiting and waiting,” he told The Oregonian. When the agents asked Salazar’s defense attorney when he would come out, they told him it would be soon.
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“Well, that never happened,” Williams said. “The man exited the courtroom through a side door and found his way out of the building.”
The Willamette Week reported that none of the parties they contacted would say exactly what happened, but multiple sources confirmed that at least one defendant avoided immigration agents that day by exiting through an entrance typically reserved for court employees.
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Harranz and Multnomah County Circuit Presiding Judge Nan Waller declined to speak with media. Waller told the Weekly that evidence was being gathered to discover if any laws had been broken.
The Weekly reported that Williams, ICE or the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility in Washington, D.C., had agreed not to pursue a criminal investigation against Herranz or anyone else.
Williams said he requested a meeting with Multnomah County judges about what the incident to prevent something similar from happening again.
ICE arrested Salazar two weeks later at a follow-up hearing. He was reportedly detained in an ICE Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.
Judge Waller confirmed that Multnomah County Courthouse staff members were not allowed to give ICE agents any information about detainees that was not publicly available. However, that does not excuse Harranz’s actions, which seemed at the very least to obstruct justice.
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This court official knew she was helping an illegal immigrant escape justice, and she should have to answer for her actions.
H/T The Daily Caller
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