RIVERDALE PARK, Maryland — Deportation officers apprehended a registered sex offender living illegally in a “sanctuary” jurisdiction after he was convicted of false imprisonment and sex crimes, the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively witnessed.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents apprehended 21-year-old Honduran national Darwin Adonai Garcia-Garcia in the early morning hours of Thursday, July 11. Garcia-Garcia’s apprehension came roughly two months after a local Maryland court chose to suspend virtually all of his 30-year prison sentence relating to his conviction for sex offenses and false imprisonment of a child, according to ICE. Authorities had previously charged him with kidnapping, abducting a child under 12, abducting a child under 16, assault in the second degree and a fourth-degree sex offense.
The DCNF was on scene to witness the apprehension, which took place around 6 a.m. outside his residence in Riverdale Park, Maryland. Numerous ICE agents staked out Garcia-Garcia’s apartment complex and waited for him to exit the building, which he eventually did, allowing agents to make an arrest outside in the apartment parking lot.
He did not appear to know any English, as deportation officers communicated with him solely in Spanish during the apprehension.
Arrest of Darwin Adonai Garcia-Garcia. Image courtesy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Border Patrol arrested Garcia-Garcia on December 4, 2018 after he illegally crossed into the U.S. near San Luis, Arizona, the agency told the DCNF. Border Patrol served the Honduran national with a notice to appear before an immigration judge and, the next day, he was transferred into ICE custody and subsequently released into the U.S.
Several years later, Garcia-Garcia was targeted by local law enforcement for his alleged abduction and sexual assault of a minor, according to ICE. He was arrested by Prince George’s County, Maryland Police on Jan. 4 and charged with kidnapping, abducting a child under 12, second-degree assault and a fourth-degree sexual offense.
The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County in Upper Marlboro, Maryland convicted him of a fourth-degree sex offense and false imprisonment on May 13, sentencing him to three decades in prison, according to ICE. However, the court subsequently suspended all but 229 days of prison sentence, allowing him to roam free in the country again.
ICE Baltimore became familiar with Garcia-Garcia’s daily activities and knew roughly when he’d be leaving his residence in Prince George’s County. The DCNF accompanied deportation officers as they staked out his residence Thursday morning and nabbed him as he was presumably on his way to work.
Arrest of Darwin Adonai Garcia-Garcia. Image courtesy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The apprehension took place without incident, with no apparent signs of him resisting arrest or attempting to flee the deportation officers. Garcia-Garcia remains in Enforcement and Removal custody, where he will presumably remain pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.
He is currently listed as a sex offender, according to the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Baltimore deportation officers told the DCNF that they prioritize the apprehension of dangerous illegal migrants who pose serious risks to the local community, and they are seeking to increase their number of sex offender apprehensions.
It’s not entirely clear why the circuit court in Prince George’s County chose to suspend nearly all of Garcia-Garcia’s entire 30-year prison sentence, despite the severity of his convictions. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF about the case.
Prince George’s County is listed as a “sanctuary” jurisdiction by the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization that seeks stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration law.
In the past, ICE has publicly criticized Prince George’s County specifically for local non-cooperation policies that, they say, protect criminal illegal migrants.
“The county leadership has chosen misguided politics over public safety,” the Baltimore field office director said at the time. “We aren’t asking Montgomery County or Prince George’s County to conduct immigration enforcement, we’re asking them to honor a lawful request to transfer these individuals into our custody where they can avail themselves of due process in the immigration court system.”
A spokesperson for Prince George’s County did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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