Dane County, Wisconsin, Sheriff Kalvin Barrett is defending the county’s sanctuary policy that shields illegal aliens from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days after high school sweethearts 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling were killed in a crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien with a criminal record.
As Breitbart News reported, on July 20, illegal alien Noelia A. Martinez of Honduras, 30 years old, was allegedly drunk driving in Dane County when she crashed into Hallie and Brady.
Hallie was killed immediately and pronounced dead at the scene, while Brady was left in critical condition, airlifted to a nearby hospital, and died from his injuries on July 25. Hallie and Brady were high school sweethearts and had recently attended senior prom together.
Hallie Helgeson (Anderson-TeBeest Funeral Home)
Brady Heiling (Wing-Bain Funeral Home)
Martinez, as Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have since noted, should never have been in the United States and was able to hide from federal immigration enforcement partly due to Dane County’s sanctuary policy, which refuses to honor ICE detainers. These detainers are requests for custody whenever an illegal alien is released from local custody.
“Hallie Helgeson and Brady Heiling had their whole lives ahead of them — and they would still be alive today if it weren’t for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila — a criminal illegal alien from Honduras,” DHS’s Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
McLaughlin continued:
Martinez-Avila recklessly drove the wrong way on a highway while intoxicated and killed these two teens. ICE has lodged an arrest detainer to remove this public safety threat from the U.S. Unfortunately, this sanctuary jurisdiction has a history of not honoring ICE arrest detainers often leading to the release of murderers and other heinous criminals. Under Secretary Noem, these precious victims will not be forgotten, and we will fight for justice. [Emphasis added]
Barrett, who told local media in February that he would not honor ICE detainers, is continuing to defend Dane County’s sanctuary policy even after Hallie’s and Brady’s deaths, according to a report from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
After her arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked the Dane County Jail to hold her if she were to post bond so that ICE officers could take her into custody, making her vulnerable to deportation before her case concludes. Martinez-Avila is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, according to the department. [Emphasis added]
…
Barrett said it is the Department of Homeland Security’s responsibility to obtain an arrest warrant signed by a judge, which would ensure that the department can lawfully take custody of Martinez-Avila. Detainers are not legally binding. [Emphasis added]
Barrett’s insistence on ICE securing an arrest warrant for Martinez is a tactic used by many sanctuary sheriffs.
ICE, under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), is not required to obtain criminal warrants from judges for suspected illegal aliens. Instead, ICE agents obtain administrative warrants that are signed off on by federal officials.
Sanctuary counties like Dane County often deploy the tactic anyway, claiming that they are not obstructing ICE agents from enforcing federal immigration law, but merely asking them to get a criminal warrant on an illegal alien, knowing such warrants are not required by federal law.
Martinez remains in Dane County custody, facing two counts of vehicular homicide. Her next hearing in the case is scheduled for September 22.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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