by Jason Hopkins
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has confirmed that one of the men arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland, for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl is an illegal alien.
Authorities arrested Jonathan Coreas-Salamanca, 20, and Ivan Reyes Lopez, 19, earlier in February on charges that they raped and sexually abused different 11-year-old girls, ABC7 first reported Monday. ICE confirmed in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation that Coreas-Salamanca is a Salvadoran national living in the U.S. illegally.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) lodged a detainer for Jonathan Coreas-Salamanca, an unlawfully present Salvadoran national, with Montgomery County Detention Center on Feb. 14, following his arrest by Montgomery County Police for sex abuse of a minor and second degree rape,” read a Tuesday statement provided by ICE spokeswoman Kaitlyn Pote.
Coreas-Salamanca was arrested in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Feb. 13, and police arrested Lopez in Bethesda, Maryland, several days later on Feb. 19. Both men have been charged with second-degree rape, and Coreas-Salamanca has been slapped with additional charges of sexual abuse of a minor and third-degree sexual offense.
Despite being over 18 years of age, both men were actively enrolled in local high schools — Coreas-Salamanca at Montgomery Blair High School and Lopez at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. Both men were reportedly at their respective school grounds during the time of their arrests.
It’s not clear when Coreas-Salamnaca arrived in the U.S. or for how long he has been living unlawfully in the country.
Montgomery County is no stranger to rape allegations against illegal aliens.
Throughout 2019, Montgomery County received national media attention over a string of arrests of illegal aliens for various rape and sexual abuse charges. The arrests garnered widespread criticism against a “sanctuary” executive order by Democratic Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich: “The Promoting Community Trust Executive Order.”
Signed by Elrich in July 2019, the order forbid county police from asking an individual about their immigration status and largely prohibited them from cooperating with ICE agents. The county had already refused to honor ICE detainer requests, and the new order was the latest sanctuary measure enacted by a deep-blue locality.
Amid heightened controversy, a county spokesperson announced in November 2019 that ICE agents would have the ability to access certain areas of the Montgomery County jail in order to apprehend illegal aliens.
However, the rollback came with caveats: Before arriving at the county jail, the agency must submit an immigration detainer and arrive before the wanted illegal alien is released. If, for any reason, ICE agents are not able to arrive on time, the alien is released into the public — even if the individual has been charged with murder, rape or other heinous crimes.
The Montgomery Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s inquiry if the ICE detainer placed on Coreas-Salamanca will be honored.
– – –
Jason Hopkins is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
