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Two Illegals Set Free Thanks to 'Progressive' Leadership. Now a 14-Year-Old Girl Is Dead

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Political decisions have consequences. It’s easy to pretend that rhetoric exists in some sort of bubble, making for neat talking points but having no impact on everyday life.

But a life is now over, and leftist policies on illegal immigration may be directly to blame.

A 14-year-old Maryland girl was murdered last month in Prince George’s County, just a stone’s throw from our nation’s Capitol. Two suspects have been arrested, and they’re both illegal aliens from El Salvador.

That’s outrageous enough, but it gets worse. The alleged murderers are repeat offenders, yet were released into the public even though they had Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers against them.

“2 unlawfully present El Salvadoran teens have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder of a Maryland girl,” the official White House Twitter account stated in a post on Tuesday. “Both had previously been arrested for attempted murder.”

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“In spite of detainers placed on them, both were released without notification to [ICE],” the official tweet continued.

Authorities told WJLA-TV that Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce and Joel Ernesto Escobar were in the U.S. illegally when they and a 14-year-old girl named Cynthia Hernandez-Nucamendi killed Ariana Funes-Diaz last month. They then allegedly left the teen’s body in a creek, where it was found on April 19, WJLA reported.

Are "sanctuary" type policies putting Americans at risk?

The murder suspects are believed to be linked to the infamous MS-13 gang, and suspected of killing Funes-Diaz to prevent her from going to police with information about a robbery, WJLA reported.

According to WTTG in Washington, the two were arrested last year in Prince George’s County, accused of attempted murder and gang-related charges. It wasn’t clear when or how the two were released, according to the Washington Examiner.

So how exactly do illegal immigrants facing charges of violent crime get treated with kid gloves? That’s exactly what the Trump administration is demanding to know, but officials in Maryland are now playing a game of finger-pointing.

“Prince George’s corrections director Mary Lou McDonaugh said Wednesday that they ignored the ICE detainer a year ago because of the guidance from the attorney general,” WJLA reported.

The chain of blame seems to link right back to the Maryland attorney general, at least based on that report and a statement from the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections.

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“The Department of Corrections follows the Guidance Memorandum of the Maryland Attorney General to not inform the U.S. Immigrations [sic] and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency of individuals being released with a detainer, which is a civil matter,” that department said in a written notice, according to WJLA.

And who is the attorney general of Maryland? That would be Brian E. Frosh, a Democrat now in his second term who made his last election all about taking on the Trump administration.

“The Maryland attorney general’s race has become a referendum on the anti-Trump resistance: Democratic incumbent Brian E. Frosh touts his success suing the administration over issues including the president’s travel ban,” The Washington Post reported in September, just before the November election.

“I’m protecting our state and everyone in it from what is going on in Washington,” Frosh declared at a 2018 rally.

How catch-and-release policies for criminal illegal aliens are “protecting” Maryland citizens is a bit of a mystery.

They certainly didn’t protect Ariana Funes-Diaz from being murdered.

But Frosh has spent much of his time focused on attacking the Trump administration, filing no less than 20 lawsuits against the administration that have made him what one analyst called a “progressive hero,” The Washington Post reported. And if the state’s Department of Corrections is right, he’s also pushed sanctuary-style policies that discourage localities from cooperating with ICE.

Instead of working with the federal agency to keep dangerous aliens off the streets, Maryland officials seem to be using “legalese” to split hairs about their responsibilities.

“A detainer is not a warrant. It’s a civil detainer,” Director of Corrections Mary Lou McDonough said during a Wednesday news conference. “It’s actually a request for localities to hold inmates till ICE decides whether they want to come for them or not. And following that guidance, Prince George’s County does not notify ICE.”

You have to wonder if that kind of justification lets officials sleep at night, feeling smug about foiling the Trump administration while suspected killers go free.

Here’s the bottom line: The ridiculous decision by liberal politicians to see the president as their enemy, and do whatever it takes to spite him, is putting innocent people at risk.

This isn’t a game. There are life-and-death consequences, and it’s time for officials to admit that protecting Americans is more important than their petty anti-Trump bickering.

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Benjamin Arie is an independent journalist and writer. He has personally covered everything ranging from local crime to the U.S. president as a reporter in Michigan before focusing on national politics. Ben frequently travels to Latin America and has spent years living in Mexico.




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