Wilson Rodriguez Macarreno, a 14-year-resident of the United States, called police near Seattle, Washington on Thursday morning and found himself detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and could be deported within days.
This was because Rodriguez Macarreno, who is originally from Honduras, had a valid warrant that showed up in the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC) database, but Tukwila police could not immediately tell that it was an administrative warrant issued by ICE, police said in statement posted to Facebook on Saturday.
Since this occurred at 5.30 am Pacific on Thursday, the Tukwila Police Department has publicly stated that, ‘going forward, officers will not be responsive to administrative warrants issued by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, nor will it collaborate with the agency.’
But at least two questions with far-reaching implications remain.
Wilson Rodriguez Macarreno, a 14-year-resident of the United States, called police near Seattle on Thursday to reporter a trespasser and found himself detained by ICE
The first is how, exactly, officers will be able to tell the difference between an administrative ICE warrant and a criminal warrant.
A second question of note is whether a phone call or some other method of checking the type of warrant will put ICE agents on notice of a particular individual with a deportation order.
The Tukwila Police Department did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiry by phone and email regarding the above two questions.
For Rodriguez Macarreno, his two young children and his partner, though, none of this matters because he’s already been detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, which is one of the largest detention facilities in the nation.
The father of 3-year-old twins and a 1-year-old son was hand-delivered there by police who responded to his call reporting a person, who the cops did in fact find to be trespassing on his property.
Rodriguez Macarreno called 9-1-1 early Thursday because his home had been broken into before, and he feared for his children, his attorney Luis Cortes Romero told the Washington Post.
Police said this happened because officers could not immediately tell that a warrant that showed up was an administrative warrant, in the form of a deportation order, issued by ICE, because these are being entered into a national system in the same way as criminal warrants
The Honduran native originally came to the US illegally in 2004, and missed a mandatory court date in Texas around that time, which is what prompted the warrant that Tukwila police saw in the NCIC database, but could not tell was a removal order.
‘As part of any call to 9-1-1, dispatchers obtain the information of the reporting party and information on anyone else involved in the call, if it is known,’ Tukwila police clarified in a post on social media.
‘If it isn’t provided at the time of call, we ask for it on scene. This is standard procedure everywhere. This is because we need to verify the identities of those involved. Warrant checks are automatic once the information is entered for verification.’
Cortes has said he is looking into whether Rodriguez Macarreno was properly notified of his court date by immigration officials in Texas.
As for avoiding future scenarios like what happened to Rodriguez Macarreno, Tukwila police said in a statement on Saturday that they are now on notice that this is a problem for their community, and police department, which police said ‘has had a long history of not getting involved in immigration-related issues.’
‘We have since verified with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that administrative deportation orders of removal are in fact being entered into NCIC the same way criminal warrants would be and that we may be encountering more of these types of warrants in the future,’ the statement said.
DailyMail.com reached out to the Seattle field office for ICE by phone and email, but have not yet received a response, regarding whether this process is a new procedure, and if so, when it was implemented, referring to the practice of entering administrative warrants and orders of deportation into the NCIC database in the same way as criminal warrants
The statement also said that Tukwila police will do what they can to put other law enforcement agencies nearby on notice that deportation orders are now showing up this way in the national database.
‘Chief [of Police Bruce] Linton and Deputy Chief Mitchell will make other police chiefs in the region aware of the nature of these administrative warrants and that other agencies may encounter them in the future as well,’ the statement read.
‘Mayor [Allan] Ekberg is also reaching out to the mayors of other cities in the region to inform them of the incident and steps we are taking to ensure we are within the best practices for the region in dealing with these types of warrants moving forward.’
DailyMail.com reached out to the Seattle field office for ICE by phone and email, but have not yet received a response, regarding whether this process is a new procedure, and if so, when it was implemented, referring to the practice of entering administrative warrants and orders of deportation into the NCIC database in the same way as criminal warrants.
Rodriguez Macarreno’s attorney, Cortes, has requested a stay of removal for him, on humanitarian grounds, based on the fact that he is the sole provider for his three children and partner.
Cortes has also said he’ll be looking into seeking asylum for Rodriguez Macarreno, as seeing as how he came to the US at the age of 18 to feel generational poverty, and both his brother and friend have been brutally murdered in his home country, which has become increasingly violent since that time.
‘The only thing we’re asking for is that Wilson gets the opportunity to plea his case before a judge,’ Cortes said.
Cortes did not immediately respond to a phone message left by DailyMail.com seeking an update on Rodriguez Macarreno’s status.
Tukwila police reiterated that they want their community members to feel safe calling for assistance from law enforcement, regardless of whether they are documented residents of the US.
‘As per policy, our officers do not inquire as to the nationality or immigration status of suspects, victims, witnesses or others nor do they access immigration databases to make such checks,’ the departments initial statement on Thursday read.
‘Race, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic status are of no bearing on the decision to make arrests.’
It added: ‘We have worked hard over the past several years to build relations with our immigrant and refugee populations. Our Community Liaison Officers, Community Police Team and other officers have made great strides and advances in creating lasting partnerships with these communities to build trust and understanding. We hope to continue building upon those connections and provide an open and transparent means of communication that is inclusive of all members of the Tukwila community. We want to ensure that all members of the community are comfortable calling us for assistance regardless of their nationality or immigration status.’
Seattle is considered a sanctuary city, meaning it has policies in place to shield its immigrant community who are in the US illegally from federal authorities, whether that be by taking proactive measures to protect them from deportation, or simply not providing assistance to immigration enforcement, according to the Center for Immigration Justice.
Cortes did not immediately respond to a phone message left by DailyMail.com seeking an update on Rodriguez Macarreno’s status