BALTIMORE – A 19-year-old El Salvadoran national with multiple criminal arrests was taken into custody May 4 by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) after he was released on bond with an active ICE detainer in place. He is currently detained at the Howard County Detention Center in Jessup, Maryland.
Mario Granados-Alvarado was released from local custody May 3 despite immigration officials formally lodging a detainer with the Montgomery County Detention Center a day earlier. Montgomery County, Maryland, is listed as a jurisdiction that has publicly limited cooperation with ICE and frequently ignores legally authorized detainers.
According to Bethesda Magazine, Granados-Alvarado was ‘arrested May 1 in Kensington after allegedly driving a stolen car on school property. In the trunk of the car, police found an assault rifle that had been stolen from a City of Rockville police cruiser. Officers also discovered a second stolen car and a second stolen gun nearby.’
“Keeping people safe means not tolerating the release of aliens that present a clear public safety threat back into our communities,” said Dorothy Herrera-Niles, field office director for ERO Baltimore. “ICE is committed to fostering positive collaboration with our local law-enforcement partners, and welcomes changes from county officials that would prioritize public safety.”
According to Department of Homeland Security databases, Granados-Alvarado was originally encountered by U.S. Border Patrol on March 6, 2014, near Falfurrias, Texas, and it was determined he had unlawfully entered into the United States from Mexico. He was issued a notice to appear in immigration court, and is currently in removal proceedings.
