A 20-year-old Honduran illegal alien stands accused of a brutal murder in New York after being released due to a paperwork error, despite a previous arrest for a stabbing in another state.
The case has ignited controversy and calls for reform as questions surround the handling of the repeat offender’s legal status.
Carlos Corrales-Ramirez was arrested on Sept. 2 and arraigned in a Rensselaer County court for the fatal stabbing of 28-year-old Jairo Jesus Hernandez-Sanchez, according to Fox News.
Corrales-Ramirez had been previously apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents near Champlain, New York, in March, according to WTEN.
Border Patrol discovered an active warrant for his arrest in Laurel, Maryland, related to a non-fatal stabbing.
Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner, said the border patrol did their job by arresting the suspect who was “one, in the country illegally; and two, he had a warrant out of Maryland for a violent stabbing,” according to The National Desk.
“Border Patrol did their job, they turned him over to the state police, local authorities, who then detained that individual in the Clinton County Jail, in addition to ICE as they’re supposed to do, and placed a detainer on this individual because he was here in the country illegally. And then explicitly, which I still don’t know why, Maryland never filed the paperwork to extradite the subject back to Maryland,” Morgan said.
If you want a snapshot of how broken our immigration system is, consider the case of Carlos Corrales-Ramirez, a man from Honduras.
At first glance, it seems like a local news affair. But step back, and what comes into view is the towering failure of the immigration policies… pic.twitter.com/d0otOts9wT
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) September 13, 2023
He revealed that ICE released the detainer on Corrales-Ramirez due to the constraints imposed by United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
“So even if someone is caught in here illegally, and they’ve been charged with another crime, that’s still not enough for Sec. Mayorkas as he says that’s not a bright-line rule. He makes ICE go through this lengthy analysis to determine whether they’re a public safety threat and at the end of the day, it really says that they have to be convicted of a violent crime,” Morgan said.
The illegal alien was subsequently turned over to New York State Police, according to WTEN, where he stayed for three months.
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Despite the passage of time, Maryland failed to obtain a governor’s warrant for extradition within the prescribed time frame, leading to Clinton County Judge William Favreau’s decision to release Corrales-Ramirez in June.
The Office of the State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Maryland, revealed it had taken steps to secure Corrales-Ramirez’s extradition, but the application was not processed in a “timely manner,” according to Fox News.
A spokesperson for the Laurel Police Department clarified that they did not arrest Corrales-Ramirez; he had been evading law enforcement, WTEN reported.
The Office of the State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County stated, “Regrettably, despite our efforts, we are aware that the application wasn’t received by the Secretary of State in a timely manner, leading to the current situation.
“Currently, we are working together with all of the relevant agencies to modernize and improve upon the extradition process.”
The accused entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment on Tuesday, where he was also ordered to undergo a mental health competency exam, according to Times Union.
Times Union reported that the illegal alien stabbed his victim “several times in the chest, torso and arm area with a large knife to the extent that the victim did not survive his injuries” in the vicinity of Douw and River streets.
If convicted on the charge, he would face a sentence of 25 years to life.
The victim’s family set up a GoFundMe to honor Hernandez-Sanchez and to support a one-year-old daughter he left behind.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.