The defiance of our federal laws, particularly as it relates to immigration, continues to increase across the nation…
Back in late January, an illegal immigrant by the name of Diddier Pacheco Salazar went into a courtroom for a hearing regarding his DUI case. He was there to plead guilty, and given the seriousness of the offense — being deemed a risk to public safety — ICE was there waiting for him. Upon learning that ICE agents were present, Salazar’s court appointed attorney advised him of his rights and options that he had in the event of his apprehension. The events that followed are shady, to say the least.
Salazar somehow managed to escape the courtroom, undetected by ICE. There are three entrances into the courtroom where Salazar’s hearing was taking place: one public entrance that leads to a hallway, one entrance used to escort inmates into the courtroom, and one private entrance that the judge uses to enter the courtroom. According to investigators, Salazar was allowed to use one of the two exits in order to avoid being taken into custody by ICE. His attorney had left the courtroom before he did, and assumed ICE had taken him out one of the other exits. But this was not the case.
Monica Herranz—the judge presiding over Salazar’s case—has now been implicated in his escape. When the ICE agents attempted to enter the courtroom to secure Salazar, they found that the doors were locked. Herranz was appointed to her position and is not an elected official. A court administrator and the presiding judge of the Multnomah County Circuit are conducting an internal investigation into the allegations. Surprisingly, the incident is not under criminal investigation. Herranz is on the board of the Oregon Hispanic Bar Association. If the allegations prove to have merit, this is highly disappointing.
Just days before this incident, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin building the wall between the United States and Mexico. Regardless of how high political tension may have been, it is completely outrageous for an official to conduct herself in this manner. Helping an illegal immigrant evade ICE should be grounds for removal from her position, among other repercussions. Of course, there are those who feel that ICE agents should refrain from showing up at courthouses to apprehend illegal immigrants. Still, regardless of how one views the duties of ICE agents and what is and is not appropriate, the fact remains that this entire situation reeks of politics.
As a judge, Herranz should be conducting herself as if she were an elected official. It seems an awful lot like she got caught up in defiance upon learning that ICE was outside of the courtroom. In any case, Salazar returned to the court at a later date, apparently to wrap up his DUI case, and was arrested by ICE at that time. While in the end the story reached the lawful and appropriate conclusion, the continued acts of defiance toward federal mandates across the nation are staggering and must be taken seriously.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
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