Lakewood, CO -- Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, called on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency within the Dept. of Homeland Security, to conduct an immediate internal investigation and to make public whether it was ever notified about the detention of Francis Hernandez.  Hernandez is being held in custody in Aurora for allegedly causing an deadly car accident killing three people last week.

In the attached letter to ICE, Perlmutter stated:  "As the federal representative of this community, I demand to know what ICE did to identify and remove this individual from our community prior to this deadly crash....Determining the facts on this matter is vital to reassuring the people of Colorado that our federal law enforcement agencies are executing their responsibilities by deporting the thousands of illegal aliens currently incarcerated."

In the letter, Perlmutter also noted that Congress has taken steps to make sure ICE is adequately funded and has the resources necessary to enforce existing immigration laws.  He notes that Congress appropriated $4.687 billion to ICE, more than $500 million above what ICE requested from Congress, and specifically Congress provided $200 million for ICE to modernize how it communicates with state and local penitentiaries to meet this goal. 

Perlmutter will continue to work with his colleagues at the local, state and federal levels on this important issue.

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The letter is attached here.