DHS criticized Illinois leaders after ICE arrested a Guatemalan national who officials said had been released despite a detainer request tied to a child sex-abuse conviction.
The Department of Homeland Security is criticizing Illinois officials after federal authorities said a Guatemalan national convicted of aggravated sexual abuse of a 5-year-old child was released from jail despite an ICE detainer request and later arrested by immigration officers in Chicago.
DHS told Fox News Digital that ICE officers took Erik Giovanni-Quiroa into federal custody last week after locating him through a targeted vehicle stop. Officials said Giovanni-Quiroa had been released after Illinois authorities did not honor the detainer, requiring federal agents to find him outside the jail system.
The case has become a flashpoint in the broader fight over Illinois’ limits on state and local participation in civil immigration enforcement. The state’s TRUST Act, signed in 2017 by then-Gov. Bruce Rauner, generally bars the use of state and local resources for most civil immigration enforcement purposes.
Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis accused Gov. JB Pritzker of failing to protect residents and said Illinois’ policies were responsible for the release. “Governor Pritzker continues to refuse to do his job to protect his citizens from illegal alien crime and instead chooses to smear our law enforcement,” Bis told Fox News Digital.
DHS said Giovanni-Quiroa also had a 2011 firearm-battery conviction and had received a three-year sentence in the child sexual abuse case. Officials said he briefly fled during the ICE stop before being placed in federal custody.
Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have repeatedly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics, while DHS has pressed Illinois law enforcement agencies to honor federal detainers. Fox News Digital reported that it sought comment from Pritzker, Johnson and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
Raoul previously issued guidance to Illinois law enforcement during “Operation: Midway Blitz,” reiterating that the TRUST Act limits participation in civil immigration enforcement but “does not prevent law enforcement officers from taking action to maintain peace and ensure public safety within their jurisdiction.”
The dispute leaves unresolved whether Illinois officials will revisit cooperation with ICE detainers or continue defending the state law as a boundary between local policing and federal civil immigration enforcement.
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