ICE Enforcement and Sanctuary Policies

The Department of Homeland Security says it has arrested Manuel Cruz‑Ramirez, a Mexican national in the U.S. illegally who is charged in Marion County, Oregon, with rape, purchasing sex with a minor and sexual abuse, after he was released on bail from local custody without any immigration referral under the county’s sanctuary policy. According to DHS, Cruz‑Ramirez had been deported in 2018 but illegally re‑entered the U.S. at an unknown time and was only intercepted when TSA and CBP officers at Portland International Airport flagged a fraudulent Mexican passport whose falsified name failed to return full records. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin used the case to attack Oregon and other "sanctuary politicians," arguing that in non‑sanctuary jurisdictions jail officials typically notify ICE so detainees like Cruz‑Ramirez can be taken into federal custody before release. He is now being held by ICE and his prior removal order has been reinstated, setting up another deportation case alongside the state criminal prosecution. The arrest feeds into a broader national battle over whether local sanctuary policies are freeing dangerous offenders or protecting immigrant communities, a fight already inflamed by recent ICE operations, protests and alleged plots against ICE facilities in Portland and other cities.