The case of Rachel Morin’s murder has shocked the nation and highlighted the need for ICE cooperation in Maryland. On August 5, 2023, Morin went for a walk at the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air and didn’t return. Her boyfriend reported her missing the next day, and her body was found the following morning with 15 head wounds.
Twenty-six months later, 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal alien from El Salvador with ties to MS-13, was arrested and charged in connection with Morin’s rape, murder, and the violent assault of a nine-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, sanctuary jurisdictions across Maryland continue to deny ICE access to arrest and deport illegal aliens. Baltimore, Prince George’s County, Howard County, and Montgomery County have laws preventing ICE from taking custody of undocumented immigrants arrested for local crimes. Almost half of Maryland’s population lives in these sanctuary counties.
In Montgomery County alone, officials shielded an illegal alien, Nilson Granados-Trejo, twice from deportation despite his lengthy criminal history. He was arrested and charged with the shooting death of two-year-old Jeremy Poou-Caceres in Prince George’s County. Granados-Trejo was caught trying to sneak into the U.S. as an unaccompanied alien child (UAC) in 2014.
Similarly, Prince George’s County continues to release illegal aliens back into the community, including one MS-13 member who was arrested for murder following a previous conviction. He spent only one month in prison for voluntary manslaughter before being released back into society.
