Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has had a deadly habit of freeing violent immigrants in the U.S. without first warning their victims or even local law enforcement.

An investigation by the Boston Globe found that ICE freed more than 8,500 detainees convicted of murder, rape, and other crimes over the past four years, usually because their home countries refused to take them back. More than 20 nations have turned down U.S. requests to receive deported criminals.

To make matters worse, immigration officials haven’t been notifying most crime victims when their attackers are let go, and they only notify local law enforcement on a case-by-case basis.

This “culture of secrecy” has proven deadly for some victims, including Qian Wu.

Wu was attacked in 2006 in New York City by Huang Chen, a Chinese citizen who immigrated illegally to the U.S. Chen spent three years in immigration jails for choking, punching and threatening Wu with a knife before he was released…because China didn’t want him.

In 2010, Chen caught up to Wu, who was never told by authorities about her attacker going free. He stalked the petite, 46-year-old woman for two weeks, and then viciously murdered her with a hammer and knife. He also ripped out Wu’s heart and a lung before fleeing the scene.

Over a four-year period, the Massachusetts Parole Board released 22 immigrants convicted of murder or manslaughter on the assumption that they would be deported, but several remained in the country and continued to commit crimes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Unwanted At Home, Free To Strike Again (by Maria Sacchetti, Boston Globe)

Quick Deportations Help Accused Criminals (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)