New York City defied a deportation request from ICE last year and released an illegal immigrant into the community — and now he stands accused of killing a 92-year-old woman beloved by her community.
Reeaz Khan, 21, has been charged with murder and sexual abuse against someone incapable of consent. Police say they caught him initiating the attack on surveillance video.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says he never should have been out on the streets anyway, after he was arrested on weapons and assault charged last year, and ICE asked New York to turn him over.
Police refused, under the city’s sanctuary policy, ICE says.
“Clearly the politicians care more about criminal illegal aliens than the citizens they are elected to serve and protect,” ICE said in a statement revealing New York’s decisions.
The agency said hundreds of illegal immigrants with criminal records are released onto the streets in New York each month in defiance of ICE requests.
“It was a deadly choice to release a man on an active ICE detainer back onto the streets after his first arrest included assault and weapon charges, and he now faces new charges, including murder,” said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ICE’s deportation operations in New York.
New York newspapers have detailed the grisly nature of the attack on 92-year-old Maria Fuertes, whom authorities said was out on the street checking garbage piles for recyclables the night of the attack.
The New York Post called Mr. Khan, who is an illegal immigrant from Guyana, “twisted.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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