Sanctuary Policy Leads To Woman’s Murder

In the latest casualty resulting from a law enforcement agency’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell immigration policy, an illegal alien with an extensive criminal record killed a woman after being arrested and released by several different police departments.

Not surprisingly, the tragic and avoidable crime occurred in a state—Wisconsin—that has long provided illegal immigrants with sanctuary. At least four local law enforcement agencies had contact with the illegal immigrant (Jorge Dominguez) before he murdered a young mother in Kenosha County while driving drunk on Memorial Day.

Dominguez had been arrested for serious crimes such as battery, possession of drugs and obstructing an officer and he served time in the Racine County jail. When he completed his sentence last summer he was extradited to Cook County where he had a felony warrant for possession of a controlled substance. Federal authorities claim that they issued an immigration hold on Dominguez nearly a year ago so that he could be deported after serving his sentence.

Instead, the illegal alien was released by the various law enforcement agencies he encountered throughout his crime spree. An official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) assures that the federal immigration hold had been issued when Dominguez was in custody in both Racine and Cook counties. Both agencies claim they had no record of an immigration detainer when Dominguez was released from jail.

Police in two other jurisdictions—Burlington and Rock County—also had contact with Dominguez before the deadly crash but none evidently bothered to check his immigration status. This allowed the illegal immigrant to continue victimizing innocent Americans. Legally drunk, he crashed into a family’s car on a local highway around 10:30 p.m. on Memorial Day. In the passenger’s seat, the mother was killed and the father, who was driving, was injured as well as the couple’s teenage son.

The local law enforcement agencies involved in the case all conveniently claim that they had no record of the immigration detainer. Not that most of them bother asking about a suspect’s immigration status anyways. Municipalities throughout Wisconsin have long protected illegal aliens and most police departments forbid officers from touching the immigration issue.

Just last week Madison, Wisconsin’s capital city, passed an ordinance guaranteeing that it won’t enact laws to help curb immigration. Lawmakers said they unanimously approved the resolution because minorities in the area feel that Arizona’s new law will cause backlash all the way in the Badger State. That measure makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. without proper documentation, bans “sanctuary city” policies and requires local police to check the immigration status of all residents who have encounters with authorities.

Last year Wisconsin passed legislation that gives illegal aliens discounted tuition at the state’s public colleges and universities and lawmakers came close to approving a measure to give them special driver’s licenses. For decades illegal immigrants obtained driver’s licenses in Wisconsin but in 2005 the privilege was rescinded to comply with a federal law (Real ID Act) requiring states to verify the authenticity of every applicant by 2011. Legislators came close to offering illegal immigrants, who won’t meet the new federal security standards, special cards but made a last-minute decision not to when the issue came under public scrutiny.