Suspect in Killing of Two Cops Had Many Encounters with Local Authorities

Suspect in Killing of Two Cops Had Many Encounters with Local Authorities
http://www.fairus.org/legislative-updates/legislative-update-11-4-2014#3

In California last Friday, an illegal alien named Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte allegedly shot and killed two sheriff’s deputies and shot another man in the head for resisting a carjacking. (Associated Press, Oct. 28, 2014) Monroy-Bracamonte first shot Sacramento County deputy Danny Oliver in the forehead with an assault rifle at close range as Oliver approached his car outside of a Motel 6. (Oye! Times, Oct. 27, 2014) This led officers on a six-hour chase, during which the suspect killed detective Michael David Davis, Jr., and wounded two others before officers were forced to use tear gas to smoke him out of a house in Auburn, Calif. (Id.)

The case has garnered wide media attention because Monroy-Bracamonte is an illegal alien with a well documented criminal history. Indeed, before being arrested for murder last week Monroy-Bracamonte had been deported TWICE. (Breitbart News, Oct. 26, 2014) In 1997, he was deported after being convicted in Arizona for possession of narcotics for sale. (Id.)In 2001 he was deported again after being arrested for an unspecified offense. (Id.)In addition to immigration violations, Monroy-Bracamonte had a long criminal history in the United States. He racked up at least ten traffic tickets and multiple misdemeanor offenses between 2003 and 2009 without once being turned over to federal immigration authorities. (Id.) Currently, Monroy-Bracamonte is also charged with two more attempted carjackings and one successful carjacking, unrelated to Friday’s incident. (Associated Press, Oct. 28, 2014) Authorities now suggest that Monroy-Bracamonte was able to escape detection because he operated under multiple aliases and had a valid Utah driver’s license under one of his fake names. (Id.)

Monroy-Bracamone’s case highlights the importance of state and local assistance in the enforcement of our immigration laws. Under the pressure of illegal alien advocates, state and local jurisdictions are increasingly instituting policies to prohibit their law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration officials. (Breitbart News, Oct. 26, 2014; CBS 5, Oct. 27, 2014) These policies, which proponents argue are intended to foster “trust” with law enforcement in immigrant communities, are designed to protect criminal aliens from detection and removal from the United States by restricting compliance with detainer requests, often called ICE holds. (Pew Charitable Trusts, Oct. 31, 2014; ICE Detainers FAQ)

Some policies, like California’s 2013 TRUST Act, allow law enforcement to comply with detainer requests by federal officials only if the aliens’ crimes are deemed minor, as defined under the Act, thus circumventing the already extremely narrowed removal priorities set the Obama administration. (Assembly Bill 4) Others, however, are so far reaching that law enforcement are completely restricted from cooperating with federal immigration officials. (Pew Charitable Trusts, Oct. 31, 2014) Many policies, including legislation recently rushed through the New York City Council, even prohibit law enforcement from communicating an alien’s incarceration status or release date to federal authorities. (Introduction 487)

But despite the adoption of these policies that affirmatively impede the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, the Obama Administration has done nothing to stop them. Pam Davis Owens, aunt of Detective Michael Davis, appeared on Fox News’ Hannity last week to discuss how the tragic death of her nephew, which occurred exactly 26 years after Davis’ father was also gunned down in the line of duty, makes her entire family angry at the government’s failure to secure the border. (Fox News, Oct. 29, 2014) “It’s got to stop. There can’t be any more like this,” Davis Owens said. (Id.) “I don’t want anybody to ever go through what we’ve gone through, not once, but now twice.” (Id.)