Rural Minnesota sheriff says ICE ‘too busy’ in Twin Cities to pick up charged child-sex suspect
Cottonwood County Sheriff Jason Purrington is publicly disputing an ICE tweet that accused his jail of 'refusing' to honor a detainer and 'letting go' 20‑year‑old Guatemalan national Samuel Arevalo Hernandez, who is charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct for an alleged relationship with a girl that began when she was 15. Purrington says ICE did in fact lodge a detainer, his staff called ICE immediately on Jan. 13 when someone posted Hernandez’s bail, and the ICE agent they regularly work with told them agents were tied up with operations in the Twin Cities metro and 'unable to respond' but would pick Hernandez up later, asking only for his address. Despite that, ICE pushed out a video of Hernandez’s later arrest and blasted Cottonwood County online for not honoring the detainer, fitting a broader DHS talking point that Minnesota and metro 'sanctuary' officials won’t cooperate. This case lands right in the middle of the Metro Surge spin war: state and county officials have been saying most jails and DOC do follow the law and notify ICE, while the feds keep throwing out big numbers and cherry‑picked cases; here, the sheriff is on record saying ICE had its chance, claimed it was too busy in the Twin Cities, and is now lying about it on social media. For Twin Cities readers, it’s one more example that the enforcement surge chewing through our neighborhoods isn’t even catching its own supposed 'worst of the worst' when the phones ring in outstate jails.
📌 Key Facts
- ICE tweeted an arrest video of 20‑year‑old Guatemalan national Samuel Arevalo Hernandez and accused Cottonwood County of 'refusing' to honor an ICE detainer for an alleged child-sex predator
- Hernandez was charged last week with two counts of criminal sexual conduct after Mountain Lake police alleged an abusive sexual relationship that began when he was 19 and the girl was 15
- Sheriff Jason Purrington says his jail called ICE immediately on Jan. 13 when Hernandez posted bail and was told agents were 'otherwise detained in the metro area and unable to respond' but would pick him up later, and that the ICE tweet is 'wholly inaccurate and not true'
- The dispute comes as ICE and DHS repeatedly claim Minnesota jurisdictions won’t honor detainers, while state officials counter that DOC and most counties do, and only a few jails like Hennepin and Ramsey decline civil holds
📊 Relevant Data
The incarceration rate for illegal immigrants in the US was 613 per 100,000, compared to 1,221 per 100,000 for native-born Americans between 2010 and 2023.
Illegal Immigrant Incarceration Rates, 2010–2023 — Cato Institute
Undocumented immigrants have substantially lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants across a range of felony offenses, with property crime arrest rates of 38.5 per 100,000 for undocumented immigrants compared to 165.2 per 100,000 for U.S.-born citizens.
Undocumented Immigrant Offending Rate Lower Than U.S.-Born Citizen Offending Rate — House.gov
Guatemalan migration to the US is driven by high poverty in rural areas, displacement due to natural disasters, insecurity, and violence.
Guatemalan Immigrants in the United States — Migration Policy Institute
Eight Minnesota counties have signed agreements with ICE under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
Eight Minnesota counties have signed agreements with ICE — Minnesota Reformer
DHS claims that Minnesota leaders have released nearly 470 criminal illegal immigrants in Minneapolis despite ICE detainers.
📰 Source Timeline (1)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time