FIRST ON FOX: The arrest of an illegal alien who allegedly sliced his wife’s neck open with a box cutter in Anne Arundale County, Maryland, would have been jeopardized by a new sanctuary law signed by the governor on Tuesday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Wes Moore pushed back, saying that “nothing in today’s legislation would prevent criminals from getting deported.”
DHS told Fox News Digital that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the illegal, Filberto Gonzalez Gutierrez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, who was charged with attempted murder, assault, and reckless endangerment in Anne Arundale County, Maryland.
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Local Maryland outlet, the Capital Gazette, reported that Gutierrez sliced his wife’s neck open with a box cutter and accused her of cheating on him.
Following the crime and his subsequent arrest, DHS said that the ICE detainer lodged with the Anne Arundale County Detention Center was honored, “allowing a safe and controlled transfer of custody.” Gutierrez is currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings, according to DHS.
The agency said that “safe arrests like these are now in jeopardy with sanctuary politicians in the Maryland legislature passing a bill banning cooperation with ICE.”
The bill, signed by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday, prohibits state and local jurisdictions in Maryland from partnering with ICE in immigration enforcement operations through what is known as the 287(g) program. Signed as a piece of emergency legislation, the bill takes immediate effect and requires any local jurisdictions with standing 287(g) agreements to terminate them immediately.
The bill does not ban local law enforcement from honoring ICE detainers, which, under Maryland law, is up to the discretion of the local agency. However, by banning 287(g) partnerships, local law enforcement agencies are prohibited from issuing immigration detainers of their own.
Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Moore’s office, responded to DHS by telling Fox News Digital that, “Nothing in today’s legislation would prevent criminals from getting deported.”
A Tuesday statement released by Moore’s office said that the legislation does not authorize the release of criminals, impact state policies and practices in response to immigration detainers issued by DHS, prevent state or local jurisdictions from working with the federal government on the removal of violent criminals who pose a risk to public safety or prevent state or local jurisdictions from continuing to notify ICE about the impending release of an individual of interest from custody or from coordinating the safe transfer of custody within constitutional limits.
In the same statement, Moore ripped into federal immigration agents, saying, “In Maryland, we defend Constitutional rights and Constitutional policing—and we will not allow untrained, unqualified, and unaccountable ICE agents to deputize our law enforcement officers.”
Moore said that “this bill draws a clear line: we will continue to work with federal partners to hold violent offenders accountable, but we refuse to blur the lines between state and federal authority in ways that undermine the trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
“Maryland is a community of immigrants,” added Moore, “and that’s one of our greatest strengths because this country is incomplete without each and every one of us.”
However, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who is set to depart from DHS next week, told Fox News Digital that the Maryland legislature is “unfortunately following a dangerous path … of putting criminal illegal aliens over American citizens.”
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“Filberto Gonzalez Gutierrez, a monster who sliced his wife’s neck open with a box cutter, will never walk American streets again because Anne Arundale County worked with ICE to keep this criminal off our streets,” continued McLaughlin.
“Now, Maryland sanctuary politicians are playing Russian roulette with American lives by outlawing cooperation with ICE and forcing law enforcement to RELEASE criminals from their jails into our communities and perpetrate more crimes and create more victims.”
In addition to Gutierrez, DHS accused Maryland politicians of “choosing to protect” other “public safety threats” recently arrested by ICE in Maryland.
The agency pointed to the recent arrests by ICE of Vladimir Herrera-Garcia, from El Salvador, who was convicted of homicide and larceny; Manuel Portillo Cardoza, from El Salvador, convicted of assault and lewd or lascivious acts with minor; Jose Rivera Medrano, from El Salvador, convicted of incest with minor, sex offense against child-fondling, and another sex offense; Nilo Herrera Sanchez, from Peru, convicted of strong-arm rape, sex assault, sex offense, and rape with weapon; And Jeffry Alfaro Lemus, an MS-13 member from El Salvador, convicted of possession of a weapon.
DHS stated that “by outlawing cooperation with ICE, Maryland’s sanctuary policies are siding with heinous criminal illegal aliens over public safety. McLaughlin added that “unfortunately, the only consequence will be the continued murder, rape, assault, robbery, and carnage of American lives.”
