ICE officials are blasting a North Carolina sheriff, following the release of an illegal immigrant accused of rape. 33-year-old Honduran national Oscar Pacheco Leonardo was arrested by immigration enforcement last week, just two months after Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office failed to honor an ICE detainer.
Sheriff Gary McFadden said if a person meets the conditions of his bond, he is mandated by law to release them. However, a detainer asks authorities to hold the inmate up to 48-hours after their release date in order to decide if they may be deported.
ICE officials and North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore were outraged by the decision.
“Had the sheriff honored the ICE detainer, this rapist wouldn’t have been turned loose back on the street, but would have been turned over immediately to ICE officials,” Moore explained.
On Friday, the North Carolina official announced the House of Representatives will be voting this week on House Bill 370. The bill will reportedly demand local sheriff’s to cooperate with ICE detainers.