A 28-year-old undocumented man was held illegally on an alleged ICE detainer request after a Lake County judge dismissed a domestic case against him and ordered his released, but the Lake County Sheriff's Office failed to abide by the judge's order and held the man for more than 72 hours.
By H. Nelson Goodson
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.
May 19, 2019
Waukegan, Illinois - On Saturday, a mass mailing by Waukegan community immigrant rights advocate Margaret Carrasco revealed that the Lake County Sheriff's Office failed to release Edgar Villalpando-Munoz, 28, from custody after a Lake County judge close a sex criminal case without charges involving a minor against him and ordered his release. Villalpando Munoz has two children and is married.
According to Carrasco's e-mail to Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg, she claimed that, "...he is being ILLEGALLY detained at the Lake County Jail located at 29 S. County St Waukegan, Il. since this past Wednesday morning. His case was closed and the Judge ordered that he be released. However, he was not.
Edgar Munoz does NOT have an outstanding Deportation Order. His Attorney sent all his official immigration paperwork that same day to your office because your officials stated that he had an " ICE HOLD " however, this is incorrect.
Despite providing all the required documentation to prove this, he is still being detained. It has surpassed 72 hours that he has been illegally detained.
I contacted the Lake County Jail last night and spoke to the Commander on Duty " Wilson ". She was very professional, helpful and pulled his file to review and stated that everything seemed in order but was going to talk to another commander since her shift was ending in 30 minutes and that I should call back in 1 hour regarding his release.
I called back MANY TIMES all night long and no one is answering the phone at the Jail. How can this be?? Are you aware of this occurring?
This is unacceptable. We are paying taxes to be provided services 24/7.
It is 5am Saturday May 18, 2019 and I am on my way to the Lake County Jail to personally speak to your staff and file a formal complaint demanding he be released immediately.
Question- Since taking office, have you sign a NEW 287(G) HOMELAND SECURITY agreement for your officers to act with the Authority of an ICE - IMMIGRATION office to DETAIN & DEPORT " ALL " IMMIGRANTS REGARDLESS IF THEY HAVE NO FELONY CRIMINAL CHARGES NOR OUTSTANDING DEPORTATION ORDER?
Whether they are undocumented, DACA, TPS, Temporary Legal Residents, LPR (legal Permanent Residents) or H1 or H2 worker or Visitor Visas, U Visas (victims of crime) or Political Asylum.
Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA) checked the U.S. ICE 287(g) listing of partnerships and no county sheriff or police department in Illinois has a 287(g) agreement with ICE. ICE detainer request are deemed not legal, according to a federal court ruling and only a warrant signed a a judicial judge is legal to hold someone.
Villalpando-Munoz was finally released on Saturday before Carrasco arrived at the jail and after Carrasco and his attorney's legal documents pressured the Lake County Sheriff's Office to release him.
In June, all the partnerships with ICE under the 287(g) will decide whether to continue their partnership and lose millions of undocumented immigrant taxpayer dollars in their communities.
According to a previous Center for American Progress (CAP) analysis of 40 participating 287(g) jurisdictions, immigrant households in these localities contributed $24.4 billion in annual tax revenue and generated $65.9 billion in spending power. Localities signing up for this voluntary program are thus doing so at the risk of losing these vital economic contributions.
Update: On Monday, Anthony Vega, the Chief of Staff from the Lake County Sheriff's Office e-mailed a response to Margaret Carrasco concerning her previous inquiry about Edgar Villalpando-Munoz being held more than 72 hours after his case was closed. According to Vega, Lake County Jail took custody of Mr. Villalpando-Munoz in September due to criminal sex charges involving minors. We took custody of Mr. Villalpando-Munoz from ICE’s Chicago facility. When we took over his custody there was a hold on him from the federal government. In December 2018, a federal judge vacated the hold, but was still held in Lake County Jail due to his pending Lake County court proceedings. The federal government failed to notify Lake County Jail of the vacated hold. On May 15th, his case in Lake County was resolved. On May 16th, we received communication from his lawyers with a copy of the vacated hold. During this period of time, our staff reached out to ICE and our federal counterparts to (1) let them know the Lake County case was resolved, and (2) verify the status of the federal hold. When we were finally able to communicate with our federal counterparts, Mr. Villalpaldo-Munoz was subsequently released on 05/18/2019 at 12:09 PM. Furthermore, I want to be clear, Sheriff Idleburg does not honor ICE detainers (unless signed by a federal judge) nor do we participate in any 287(g) program. Given the severity of the charges, our staff was doing their due diligence by obtaining confirmation from our federal counterparts due to the initial lack of communication from ICE regarded the December vacated hold.
Update: On Monday, Anthony Vega, the Chief of Staff from the Lake County Sheriff's Office e-mailed a response to Margaret Carrasco concerning her previous inquiry about Edgar Villalpando-Munoz being held more than 72 hours after his case was closed. According to Vega, Lake County Jail took custody of Mr. Villalpando-Munoz in September due to criminal sex charges involving minors. We took custody of Mr. Villalpando-Munoz from ICE’s Chicago facility. When we took over his custody there was a hold on him from the federal government. In December 2018, a federal judge vacated the hold, but was still held in Lake County Jail due to his pending Lake County court proceedings. The federal government failed to notify Lake County Jail of the vacated hold. On May 15th, his case in Lake County was resolved. On May 16th, we received communication from his lawyers with a copy of the vacated hold. During this period of time, our staff reached out to ICE and our federal counterparts to (1) let them know the Lake County case was resolved, and (2) verify the status of the federal hold. When we were finally able to communicate with our federal counterparts, Mr. Villalpaldo-Munoz was subsequently released on 05/18/2019 at 12:09 PM. Furthermore, I want to be clear, Sheriff Idleburg does not honor ICE detainers (unless signed by a federal judge) nor do we participate in any 287(g) program. Given the severity of the charges, our staff was doing their due diligence by obtaining confirmation from our federal counterparts due to the initial lack of communication from ICE regarded the December vacated hold.
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