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How a man here illegally got released, to be arrested again

Mayor Kenney’s executive order protects convicted felons

Let me introduce you to someone you don't really want to know.

His name is Ramon Aguirre-Ochoa, or maybe Juan Ramon Vasquez - he uses aliases, which makes him hard to find in court records. His date of birth also is fluid, he has more than one. We are sure of his address since July 26 - Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility, where he is awaiting trial for raping a child.

He is in the country illegally, or "undocumented" as the Politically Correct say, so as to not hurt the feelings of those who break our laws.

He's from Honduras and this isn't his first illegal visit to Philadelphia. He was deported in May 2009, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

When he returned to the U.S., it was as a felon, because entry after deportation is a felony, but who really cares?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement does.

ICE learned Aguirre-Ochoa/Vasquez had returned when, after his arrest last month, his fingerprints matched those already in the federal data base.

ICE asked to be notified by Philadelphia Police before his release, so ICE could grab him.

Just as ICE had requested the last time.

The last time?

Oh, yes. ICE wanted to deport Aguirre-Ochoa/Vasquez in 2015 after charges of domestic aggravated assault were dismissed, according to police.

But they couldn't because Philadelphia is a Sanctuary City that does not cooperate with the feds, violating the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The foreign felon, who does not belong here, was released into the wind, free to do whatever he wanted.

While Department of Justice statistics show illegal immigrants have a lower crime rate than the native born, each crime committed by an illegal immigrant is one we didn't have to have.

The multi-named defendant enjoys the presumption of innocence. Should he be convicted on current charges, I'm laying the agony of the victim at the feet of former Mayor Nutter, who ended cooperation with ICE after years of being brow beaten by the enablers of those here illegally.

In one of his last (and most surprising) official acts, Nutter reversed his 2014 executive order and restored city cooperation with ICE. I don't know why he made a U-turn. He didn't respond to requests for comment. Maybe he suddenly came to his senses and realized turning foreign felons loose is stupid and dangerous.

Little matter. In one of his first official acts, Mayor Kenney reversed Nutter's reversal and restored Sanctuary City status.

It's hard to imagine elected officials so anxious to coddle convicted foreign felons they would roll the dice with the safety of citizens, but Kenney is not alone.

There are 340 "sanctuaries" across the nation, each headed by a softheaded dunce who puts feeling good above public safety. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson says Philly and Chicago are the worst offenders.

Under Kenney's dangerous executive order, ICE will be notified only if the suspect has a conviction, but not just a conviction, it must be a felony. But not just a felony, it must be a first- or second-degree felony. But not just a first- or second-degree felony, it must also involve violence.

So good for (non-violent) drunken drivers, identity thieves and burglars. Feel free to offend, foreign felons! Philly's got your back.

In a gigantic additional hurdle, the city demands ICE present a judicial warrant, the equivalent of an arrest warrant, which an ICE spokesman says is almost impossible because the crime has already been solved.

The executive order is carefully crafted to protect the guilty.

That's what it did for Jose Palermos, 43, who in March 2013 was convicted of indecent assault on a 7-year-old girl. That got the sex offender on the Megan's Law list, but it wasn't enough to get the city to honor ICE's detainer request. His was "only" a third-degree felony - a "minor" crime. Unless you were the minor.

Despite the city's best efforts to protect this monster, ICE found and deported him to Mexico.

It was not an isolated incident. In July 2014, after serving time for first-degree felony aggravated assault, Maury Crousett-Garcia was released from Curran Fromhold.

The city ignored an ICE request to be notified and freed the convicted felon from the Dominican Republic. The only "documents" he had was his rap sheet.

Kenney's executive order opens by saying "immigrants make significant contributions" to the city. Yes, but we are talking about illegal immigrants who break our laws.

Let's say the undocumented Aguirre-Ochoa/Vasquez is not convicted. Under Philly policy, he will be turned loose again without ICE being notified, because that's the way Kenney wants it. He has police protection, he can afford to gamble by freeing foreign felons.

The blood of future victims will be on his hands.

215-854-5977 @StuBykofsky

Blog: ph.ly/Byko

Columns: ph.ly/StuBykofsky