Police quickly caught and arrested Fuerte-Padilla, and DHS initially said it wanted him deported after Texas punished him for the death of the Texas teenager, but the Department has since changed its mind, The Washington Times reported.
“Under rules issued in September by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Fuerte-Padilla doesn’t qualify as a priority anymore,” the outlet reported. “U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] also told Texas that it was canceling deportation requests — known as ‘detainers’ — on other illegal immigrants, including some who pleaded guilty to felony charges of evading arrest or had convictions for drunken driving, drug possession or domestic assault injuring a family member.”
The rules were supposed to direct resources to focus on dangerous targets over those with minor criminal records, but it now appears the only people deemed dangerous enough to be deported are those who pose a national security risk, recently crossed the border illegally, or are a public safety risk. Though most would agree Fuerte-Padilla is a public safety risk, Mayorkas’ rules require ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents to weigh criminal convictions against other factors, including how long the illegal immigrant has been in the U.S., how long ago they were convicted of the crime, and whether the families of the illegal immigrant would suffer due to detention or deportation.
