The History of Sanctuary Policies In Maryland And Montgomery County.
October 2010
– In October of 2010 then-Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley declared when it came to illegal immigration, Maryland was open for business when he said ” “There is this nativism rising up and this desire to blame new Americans for the problems in our economy,” O’Malley said. O’Malley repeatedly used the term “new Americans” as a euphemism for illegal aliens. (per Dan McHugh)
– Flashback: October 2010: During MD Gubernatorial Debate: Maryland Governor Calls Illegal Immigrants “New Americans”: https://www.realclearpolitics.
– After Governor O’Malley was reelected in November of 2010, he rolled up sleeves and went to work on his declaration. In 2011 Maryland passed a “Dream Act” that gave In State College Tuition in Maryland to illegal immigrants. It was challenged in a referendum, it went on the ballot in the 2012 election and passed in November of 2012. (per Dan McHugh)
November 2012
– Maryland votes in “Maryland Dream Act” referendum to give in-state college tuition discount to illegals in May 2012. A Maryland law that grants an in-state tuition discount to undocumented college students won voter approval in a referendum that set a precedent in the national debate over illegal immigration. “This is going to be a tremendous victory,” Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said. https://www.washingtonpost.
MAY 2013
– Governor O’Malley signs driver’s licenses for illegals into law in May 2013. Law takes effect in January 2014. Then-Governor O’Malley in 2013 to complete his Declaration, After the Democrat controlled legislature passed a law to give Illegal Immigrants Driver’s Licenses, Governor O’Malley signed it into law, In 3 years after Governor O’Malley was re elected he completed his vision to radically transform Maryland on Immigration. He had fulfilled his promise he made in 2010.
https://www.washingtonpost.
https://www.washingtonpost.
AUGUST 2014
– Maryland schools see influx of immigrants from Central America. While Maryland schools are well equipped to take in immigrants, the thousands of unaccompanied minors streaming across the border from Central America bring a new set of issues. They are most likely teenagers who not only don’t speak English but also have significant deficits in their education. School officials said they have seen nearly illiterate high-schoolers, girls who have been sexually assaulted during their journey across the border, and others who are overwhelmed and depressed. “Many are coming with psychological or emotional trauma. Many are not literate in Spanish … and may only have gone to school up to the first or second grade. They may have huge gaps,” said Kelly Reider, coordinator for English language acquisition and international student services in Anne Arundel County. https://www.baltimoresun.com/
October 2014
– Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett issued order: ““Montgomery County will no longer comply with ICE detainer request except for those requests that have adequate support for a funding of probable cause under the Fourth Amendment.”
In October of 2014 then Montgomery County, MD Executive Ike Leggett implemented a County policy that restricted the Montgomery County Police Department from complying with Ice Detainer Requests. https://www.mymcmedia.org/
In October of 2014 then Montgomery County, MD Executive Ike Leggett implemented a County policy that restricted the Montgomery County Police Department from complying with Ice Detainer Requests. https://www.mymcmedia.org/
FEBRUARY 2015
– Maryland School Systems Grapple with Influx of Central American Minors. Maryland received 3,301 minors by Sept. 30 — the sixth-most nationwide — and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties took in more than 2,000, U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement statistics show. Most moved in with friends or family in longstanding Central American immigrant enclaves that are battling poverty, low education rates and gangs. School enrollment is required to maintain immigration status. In Prince George’s County schools, more “unaccompanied or homeless youth” registered through November of this school year than all of the last school year. In one year, Montgomery County saw a two- to three-fold increase in the number of Central American students. https://cnsmaryland.org/2015/
SEPTEMBER 2015
– One of nation’s largest school districts ditches high school final exams. Maryland’s largest school system will scrap high school final exams next school year, ending a longtime practice that lost support amid a growing national concern about too much student testing and the toll it takes on instructional time. Montgomery County’s Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday to eliminate the two-hour semester-end exams and replace them with shorter assessments taken during the quarter that could take different forms: tests, essays, portfolios and projects. Final exams also have a troubled history in Montgomery, where high school students have failed math finals at rates of more than 50 or 60 percent in some courses. https://www.washingtonpost.
NOVEMBER 2015
– In November of 2015, one year after County Executive Leggett implemented his policy, it was reported that MS 13 violence, recruitment, and activity was on the rise in Montgomery County. (per Dan McHugh)
– MS-13 Gang Violence Reemerges in Montgomery County. County members of the Salvadoran gang have been linked to murders in the region. Montgomery County law enforcement officials are concerned the murder of a Gaithersburg man in Montgomery Village earlier this month and other recent violence may be a sign that the MS-13 gang is rebuilding in the area. The murder led to the arrests of three county teens and warnings from Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy that the violent El Salvador-based gang may be recruiting again. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
2016
– Crime: Graph of rape on the rise in Montgomery County: MoCo Police recorded 314 rape cases in 2016. That’s an average of 26/month. MoCo does not collect data on criminal suspects’ immigration status so it’s very challenging to decipher what percentage of U.S. citizens, legal residents + undocumented immigrants commit crimes. https://twitter.com/ABC7Kevin/
MAY 2016
– Over this time period from around 2014 to to now, in Montgomery County, MD, the county saw a strain on county resources from the influx of illegal aliens. The Montgomery County Council pushed for a property tax increase to compensation for the rising government cost of illegals using programs and schools. (per Dan McHugh)
– An easy A? Under new rules, these high school students could see grades soar. Maryland’s largest school system just made it easier for high school students to get A’s. Just months after deciding to eliminate traditional final exams, Montgomery County has announced significant changes to its method of calculating grades starting in the 2016-2017 school year, most notably that final course grades will be rounded up after a student’s two quarterly grades are averaged. https://www.washingtonpost.
– Montgomery County pushes to expand school lunch program to 7 days a week because of strain on county resources. Montgomery County councilmember Craig Rice, chair of the council’s education committee and an advocate for the free meals program, appeared on a D.C.-based radio station on Tuesday to promote the expansion of the program, but the radio host questioned whether the program encouraged fiscal irresponsibility, parent neglect and took into consideration the influx of illegal alien children coming into the community. WMAL’s Larry O’Connor pressed the councilmember on whether they are accounting for the added costs of poor undocumented students in the county. “Do you have any information here as to how many of these children that are being fed … are here illegally and have come here recently in the influx of undocumented children across the border?” the WMAL host asked him. “We don’t know and actually don’t identify which ones are a part of this program. From our perspective, again just as you feel, no child should go hungry,” said the councilmember. https://dailycaller.com/2016/
– May 2016 – Montgomery County Council Approves 8.7 Percent Property Tax Increase. Taxes: In 2016 County Executive Ike Leggett, The Montgomery County Council, and Montgomery County Public Schools were in a mass panic, MCPS said it need a significant amount more revenue to go over the maintenance of effort, so 2 Tax Increases were passed in 2016 an 8.7% Property Tax Increase, and a 30% Increase in the Recordation Real Estate Transfer Tax, that was deemed an emergency Tax Increase for Montgomery County Public Schools. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
https://bethesdamagazine.com/
https://bethesdamagazine.com/
– May 2016: Washington Post: Biggest tax hike since 2009 is now official in Montgomery County. The Montgomery County Council gave final approval to a $5.3 billion budget that includes the biggest property-tax hike in seven years, trims pay raises the county had promised to unionized workers and pours record funding into the school system. Critics of the spending plan warned of a potential political backlash that could boost support in liberal Montgomery for Gov. Larry Hogan (R) or for putting term limits for county officials on the November ballot. https://www.washingtonpost.
OCTOBER 2016
– Montgomery County Public Schools: In October of 2016 it was reported that Montgomery County Public School’s has gone through significant demographic shifts, that now 30% of the student population is now Hispanic. In September of 2016 MCPS rolled out a new curriculum that it was getting rid of Final Exam’s in high school, and implementing a new grading system to make it easier to pass. In 2018 2 years with these new lower standards in place it was reported MCPS now has massive grade inflation. (per Dan McHugh)
– A once nearly all-white school district has a new largest group: Hispanic students. Hispanic students for the first time outnumber their peers in other racial and ethnic groups in Montgomery County’s public schools, a milestone for diversity in a suburb long regarded as largely white and affluent. The school district in 2016-2017 is 30 percent Hispanic, 29 percent white, 22 percent black and 14 percent Asian, according to school district data, a student body that would have been difficult to imagine five decades ago, when Montgomery’s enrollment was 94 percent white. Long in the making, the demographic shift in the Maryland suburb reflects broader changes nationally and brings new attention to whether the high-performing school system is doing enough for its surging number of Hispanic students. https://www.washingtonpost.
NOVEMBER 2016
– Montgomery County Voters — even liberal voters — were so outraged with the property tax hike, they adopted Term Limits on the Montgomery County Council. This successful effort for county council term limits was run by Republican Robin Ficker.
– Montgomery County Voters Adopt Term Limits https://wamu.org/story/16/11/
JANUARY 2017
– College Park and PG County will uphold sanctuary city policies despite Trump order. Local officials and student groups at the University of Maryland are continuing to advocate for undocumented community members in the wake of President Trump’s executive order decreeing that “sanctuary cities,” which don’t cooperate with federal deportation efforts, will no longer be eligible to receive federal grants. The administration’s move is concerning, College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn said, noting the city of College Park will continue to follow sanctuary policies set by Prince George’s County officials and police. The county is one of three jurisdictions in the state of Maryland with protocols in place to protect undocumented immigrants from prosecution by federal authorities. https://dbknews.com/2017/01/
APRIL 2017
– Hyattsville becomes second official sanctuary city in Maryland. The City of Hyattsville has officially declared itself Maryland’s second sanctuary city, barring local officials from enforcing federal laws and deportation measures. The Hyattsville City Council voted 8-2 in favor of the bill Monday night, two weeks after approving a preliminary ordinance. It joins Takoma Park — this state’s first sanctuary city — in Montgomery County holding this status for more than three decades, according to The Washington Post. “Whether anyone among us has migrated or immigrated from any corners of our great planet, please know that your presence among us in Hyattsville is most welcome,” Councilman Thomas Wright told WTOP. When a city assumes sanctuary status, officials cannot adhere to federally enforced immigration policies. As a result, Hyattsville officials, including police officers, can no longer enforce federal immigration laws.
JUNE 2017
– Rockville becomes a sanctuary city. The Rockville City Council waded into the nationwide immigration debate Monday by approving an ordinance that prohibits the city’s police officers and other officials from enforcing federal immigration law or asking about a person’s immigration status. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
JULY 2017
– In 2017 Montgomery County’s State’s Attorney John McCarthy testified in front of the County Council and said that Gang Violence in Montgomery County had increased to, and he was very alarmed about this. In 2017 he said this “Montgomery County’s State’s Attorney John McCarthy has said MS-13 has been implicated in up to 18 murders over the past two years in Montgomery County.” This lead in October of 2017 Montgomery County Diverted nearly $1 Million Dollars in the MCPD to form a Special Gang Task Force Unit to deal with this problem. (via Dan McHugh)
– Montgomery County’s Lead Prosecutor Alarmed by Growing Gang Violence. Authorities in past two years have linked 18 killings to gang activity, McCarthy said. Montgomery County’s elected leaders, law enforcement and prosecutors gathered Monday to share concerns about a recent increase in gang violence. Officials have noticed rising levels of gang-related homicides and robberies in the county since 2015, and State’s Attorney John McCarthy said these numbers likely don’t paint a complete picture. “I will tell you I’ve had some personal alarm watching what’s transpiring over the last year or so,” he told a County Council committee that met in Rockville. “I really don’t know that we have a real idea of the full extent to which there is gang crime in the county.” In the past, a year might go by without any killings tied to gang activity in the county. But over the past two years, McCarthy said county authorities have linked 18 homicides to criminal organizations. And on any given day, roughly a quarter of the inmates in the county jail are self-identified gang members, he said. Gangs such as MS-13, Hittsquad, the Bloods and the Crips all have a presence in Montgomery County, he said. The relative youth of the group members orchestrating and carrying out attacks also is striking to authorities. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
OCTOBER 2017
– Montgomery Co. ramps up efforts to fight MS-13, other gangs. ROCKVILLE, Md. — Montgomery County is stepping up its battle against MS-13 and other gangs that are blamed for a rising homicide rate in the county. Police and prosecutors are beefing up their ranks to counter the gangs; the public school system will pitch in with information sharing and more gang prevention efforts. Members of the county council said it was not a difficult decision to come up with more funding to attack the problem of gangs in the county. “I am committed to doing whatever it takes to put an end to MS-13 in our county, whatever it takes. And I believe our entire county council shares that view,” said council President Roger Berliner. https://wtop.com/montgomery-
NOVEMBER 2017
– Suspected MS-13 member charged with murder in grisly decapitation, dismemberment. Gory details are emerging in the gang killing of a man who was stabbed more than 100 times, decapitated and had his heart cut out of his chest before being dumped in a pre-dug grave in a Montgomery County park. Police have still not identified the man whose body was discovered Sept. 5 in a wooded area of Wheaton Regional park. But one of the MS-13 gang members who’s suspected of taking part in the grisly slaying has now been charged with first-degree murder. https://wtop.com/montgomery-
DECEMBER 2017
– Even with 2 significant tax Increases in Montgomery County in 2016 it was reported Montgomery County was facing a $120 Million Dollar budget shortfall in December of 2017. Despite 2 Tax Increases, and a report in March of 2018 that Montgomery County’s Population has Increased. (via Dan McHugh)
– ‘Shocked’: Montgomery Co. scrambles to cut budget amid revenue shortfall. Montgomery County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett is calling for executive departments to make cuts of 2 percent in order to save money after projections show income tax revenues are $64 million less than projected for the last quarter of the year. Not only that, but Leggett’s Department of Finance reports that the total revenue shortfall for fiscal 2018 is expected to top out at $95 million. When the executive’s office adds the $25 million shortfall at the close of fiscal year 2017, the operating budget is short by a projected $120 million for the year, Leggett told the county council. https://wtop.com/montgomery-
MARCH 2018
– Montgomery County’s Population Continues To Grow, New Census Estimates Show. County added more than 10,000 people last year. As Montgomery County has experienced population growth over the previous decade, its demographics have shifted. For example, the 2010 Census found about 57.5 percent of the county’s population identified as white, in 2016 the American Community Survey, a limited version of the census, found about 55.2 percent of the population identified as white. Meanwhile, the county’s Hispanic or Latino population has grown from about 165,400 residents in 2010—about 17 percent of the population—to 190,550—or about 18.6 percent of the population. The county’s black population has also risen from about 167,300 in 2010 to 201,000 in 2016. The county’s population is majority minority based on the amount of whites without any Hispanic or Latino ancestry, which number about 471,400 or about 46 percent of the county’s 2016 population, according to the Bureau’s most recent estimates. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
JUNE 2018
– Citing family separation policy, Maryland Gov. Hogan calls back National Guard unit from border. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan recalled a small unit of Maryland National Guard soldiers helping to patrol the southern U.S. border on Tuesday amid a national outcry about separating migrant children from their families. Hogan joined a bipartisan wave of governors across the country revoking resources along the Mexican border in protest of an immigration policy widely condemned by both sides of the aisle. https://www.baltimoresun.com/
JULY 2018
– Maryland Governor Larry Hogan avoids campaigning on immigration in his re-election campaign.The Intercept notes that Maryland Governor Larry “Hogan’s re-election campaign website does not make any mention of immigration or immigrant communities. Amelia Chasse, a Hogan spokesperson, told The Intercept that the governor has “consistently called on Congress and the federal administration to work in a bipartisan manner to enact comprehensive immigration reform, and has repeatedly stood up to the Trump administration on immigration related issues that could impact Maryland.” https://theintercept.com/2018/
NOVEMBER 2018
– MS-13 Gang Member Gets 40 Years in Prison for Torture, Killing of 15-Year-Old Girl – From Gaithersburg Maryland. A female MS-13 gang member was sentenced to 40 years in prison for her involvement in the slaying of a 15-year-old girl in Fairfax County, Virginia. Venus Romero Iraheta, 18, was convicted of murder in January in the 2017 killing of Damaris Reyes Rivas. She pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder, abduction, and criminal street participation, Fox News reported. Iraheta was among 10 MS-13 members and associates who met Reyas Rivas, a 15-year-old who was a student at Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland. According to a translator, Iraheta said she told Reyes Rivas: “’You’re going to remember me until the day we see each other in hell. Don’t forget my name.’ And I told her my full name and I told her my nickname. And I told it to her and I told her to never forget who I was. I told her, ‘Someday, we were going to see each other again,’” Fox reported. An officer then asked her what happened next, and she replied: “I killed her.” Iraheta confessed to stabbing Reyas Rivas 13 times and cutting off one of her tattoos. “I remember that before stabbing her, Jose Torres told me to cut her tattoo off,” she said, according to NBC Washington. https://www.helpsavemaryland.
MARCH 2019
– States are embracing undocumented immigrant students as colleges expand tuition-free programs. Maryland, which is starting its Promise Scholarship program this year, and New York, which passed legislation in January to extend state aid to undocumented students, are the latest states to join California, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington in offering financial aid and grants or scholarships to students who live in those states but lack legal-immigrant status. https://www.insidehighered.
APRIL 2019
– MCPS Graduation Rate Drops for Third Straight Year. Influx of unaccompanied minors contributed to decrease, school officials say. For the third year in a row, the Montgomery school system’s graduation rate has declined. The graduation dropped to 88.4% for the 2017-2018 academic year, a 1.2% decrease from the previous year, according to recently released data. Rates have been declining and are at the lowest level since 2013 but remain above state and national averages. A school system spokesman attributed the decline to a sharp increase in unaccompanied minors who relocated to the county in 2014, a large portion of whom were high school students. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
– Immigrant Children Using Health Care Services On The Rise In Montgomery County. Montgomery County’s Department of Health and Human Services is reporting a significant increase in the number of uninsured children seeking health care in the county for the first time, a change they say may be linked to an increasing number of immigrant children released from detention centers earlier this year. Tara Clemons, a program administrator with Montgomery County’s Health Care for the Uninsured program area, says the increase in new patients can mostly be attributed to the December, January and February numbers. “It started with our schools, in terms of MCPS enrolling more international children, and then we saw the trend emerging with our numbers,” Clemons said. “For January and February, our volume of new [enrollees] was probably the largest that we had seen all year and probably some months within last year as well.” Most of the children, according to a memo published last week, are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Clemons says that other partners in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia have said that more migrant children are being released from detention centers and arriving in the area. https://wamu.org/story/19/04/
– In mid-April, two MS-13 gang members, Josue Rafael Fuentes-Ponce and Joel Ernesto Escobar, (along with another teenage girl) beat 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz with a baseball bat before stabbing her to death in Prince George’s County, Maryland. https://www.ice.gov/news/
JUNE 2019
– A 21-year-old man with reputed ties to the MS-13 gang was sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to kidnap and murder a man. GAITHERSBURG, MD — A Gaithersburg man with reputed ties to the MS-13 gang was sentenced to prison on Monday for conspiring to kidnap and murder a man he believed was a rival gang member, according to prosecutors. Jose Israel Melendez-Rivera, 21 — also known as “Liar” — faces 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Prosecutors say Melendez-Rivera admitted to participating in the 2016 murder of Jordy Mejia, so his co-defendant —Neris Moreno-Martinez, 22, of New Jersey — could achieve the rank of “chequeo.” Someone is called a “chequeo” when they’ve reached the final level before officially becoming an MS-13 gang member. https://patch.com/maryland/
JULY 2019
– Maryland Grand Jury Indicts 4 Teens In MS-13 Gang Slaying. Four teens have been indicted on murder charges in what police say was an MS-13 gang-related slaying of teenage girl. The Washington Post reports a Prince George’s County grand jury also indicted the teens on charges of assault, participation in a gang resulting in death, and conspiracy to commit murder. Eighteen-year-old Edwin Rios, 17-year-old Joel Escobar, 16-year-old Josue Fuentes Ponce and 14-year-old Cynthia Hernandez Nucamendi are all charged as adults. County police told news outlets in May that the teens were afraid 14-year-old Ariana Funes-Diaz would alert authorities about a crime they committed together, so she was beaten and stabbed to death. https://www.helpsavemaryland.
– In July 2019, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) signed an executive order into law, banning Montgomery County employees from asking residents about their immigration status.The legislation also barred ICE agents from entering any secure portions of county jails, a sudden divorce from the standard operating procedure used by the Ike Leggett and Doug Duncan administrations.
– JULY 19 – Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich Announces Countywide Executive Order Addressing Immigration Raids. Would ensure no county official will ask about immigration status. https://bethesdamagazine.com/
– CASA Applauds Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s Executive Order to Protect Immigrant Families and Promote Community Trust https://wearecasa.org/
AUGUST 2019
– Montgomery County Police have arrested at least seven undocumented immigrants on rape and other sex-related charges in the last six weeks. The seven male suspects – all natives of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – are accused of targeting females as young as 11-years-old. Six of the suspects knew their victim. One attack, a rape near downtown Silver Spring, was random.
– WJLA: ICE: Undocumented immigrants in Md. rape friend’s 11-year-old sister on separate occasions. GERMANTOWN, Md. (ABC7) — Two undocumented immigrants are accused of raping an 11-year-old girl on different occasions, the common denominator being a friendship with the victim’s older brother. Montgomery County Police have arrested Mauricio Barrera-Navidad, 29, of Damascus, and Carlos Palacios-Amaya, 28, of Gaithersburg, and charged each with second-degree rape. Last month, the victim — now 12-years-old — spoke with a social worker at her middle school in Germantown. Talking through tears, the girl shared the painful details about what both men allegedly did to her. https://wjla.com/news/local/
– FOX 5 DC: Montgomery County leaders, residents weigh in after two undocumented immigrants charged with raping girl. FOX 5 is hearing on camera for the first time from Montgomery County leaders and residents after two undocumented immigrants from El Salvador reportedly raped an 11-year-old girl repeatedly in Germantown. The county is now blaming the federal government and refusing to weigh in on if its sanctuary atmosphere attracted the two suspects to the area. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/
– Tisha Lewis FOX 5 DC @TishaLewis: UPDATE: “If the system failed it, it failed on the federal government,” says Montgomery County’s Director of Public Information. AT 4, 5 & 6: Montgomery County blames federal government and “border patrol” after two Salvadoran nationals were in the country illegally & (1/2) https://twitter.com/
– Tisha Lewis FOX 5 DC @TishaLewis reportedly raped an 11 year old girl in Germantown, MD. County says it’s not their responsibility to deport undocumented immigrants who are committing crimes #fox5dc (2/2) https://twitter.com/
– MoCo Exec. Elrich calls the alleged rape of an 11yo girl “horrible.” He also vows to notify ICE if/when the suspects post bond. Elrich says it’s standard county procedure for all “serious crimes.” Statement from County Executive Marc Elrich on New Executive Order and ICE Notification for Serious Crimes https://buff.ly/305IAWs
– WJLA: Montgomery County Stands By Policies After Opting Not To Hold An Immigrant Accused Of Rape For ICE. Montgomery County is defending its policies regarding cooperation with federal immigration authorities after it released an undocumented immigrant accused of rape on bond last week. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had filed an immigration detainer request with the county, essentially asking them to hold the man in jail for up to 48 hours without a warrant—a practice which the county does not follow as a matter of local law. Rodrigo Castro-Montejo, a 25-year-old Salvadoran national and an undocumented immigrant, is accused of raping an intoxicated woman on August 10, per court documents. The woman went to the hospital, where she reported the alleged crime to police, and where a police official watched her exchange text messages with Castro-Montejo in which he allegedly admitted to the crime, according to the warrant filed for his arrest. https://wamu.org/story/19/08/
– WJLA: An intoxicated man stalked, tackled, strangled, punched and raped a woman as she entered her apartment building carrying a basket full of laundry, Montgomery County authorities allege. The suspect has been identified as Kevin Mendoza, a 26-year-old undocumented immigrant. https://wjla.com/news/local/
– WJLA: ICE issued a detainer against Salvadoran national Nelson Reyes-Medrano, who is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl at knifepoint. Nelson Reyes-Medrano is accused of crawling into bed with a 16yo Germantown, Md. girl as she napped. The 46yo proceeded to rape the teen at knifepoint, police say. This is the fifth undocumented immigrant arrested on rape charges in Montgomery County, Md. in the last month. https://wjla.com/news/local/
– WJLA: A sixth illegal immigrant was arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland, this month for sex crimes; this time, a Salvadoran national accused of molesting a 12-year-old girl and her younger brother. Nestor Lopez-Guzman, 21, was arrested by Montgomery County Police on Aug. 18. A friend of the 12-year-old victim told a school counselor that her friend had been molested by Lopez-Guzman, according to the police report. The victim then confirmed that the abuse had been occurring over the past six months. Lopez-Guzman also confessed to touching the “private parts” of the victim’s brother, but insisted it was a cultural joke in El Salvador used to make fun of men. https://dailycaller.com/2019/
– WJLA: Illegal immigrant is arrested for ‘sexually assaulting his 15-year-old stepdaughter’ – the SEVENTH such case in Maryland in just five weeks. A Honduran national here illegally is accused of raping his stepdaughter in Maryland, which is the seventh such case in the area in a number of weeks. Emilio Carrasco-Hernandez, 37, was deported from the United States less than three years ago but reentered illegally on an unknown date, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials told WJLA. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
– Police: Group of MS-13 members beat Md. man with bat in woods for refusing to join gang. A young man was lured to a patch of woods and beaten by a pack of MS-13 members all because he refused to join the street gang, police allege. The attack, which involved baseball bats, happened in the Long Branch neighborhood of Silver Spring, Md. https://wjla.com/news/local/
– AUGUST 26: Frederick County sheriff says he needs help against ‘attack’ on his immigration enforcement policies https://www.fox5dc.com/news/
– AUGUST 27:Montgomery County Exec. Elrich released new statement on ICE requests and release of suspects https://www.wmal.com/2019/08/
NOTE FROM DAN MCHUGH of MONTGOMERY COUNTY WATCH 360: “Over the last 10 years Maryland has been radically transformed on Immigration by the State, and the Montgomery County Government, in July of 2019 Current Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich put in an Executive Order for Montgomery County to never comply with ICE at all. Pro Illegal Immigration policies have had negative impacts on Montgomery County’s Taxes, Revenue, Public Safety, and Education. Last point Governor O’Malley’s vision he set our nearly a Decade ago has succeeded in June of 2019 it was reported that Maryland has seen the largest net gain of unauthorized immigrants among the states, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center based on 2016 data.”
— Special thanks To Dan McHugh of Montgomery County Watch 360 for helping compile this timeline. —
