NJ Court Considers Illegal Immigrant Bail Case

The Supreme Court of New Jersey is considering a case that may change a loophole in the state which allows illegal immigrants to choose deportation rather than face charges.

The case stems from the arrest of Manuel Fajardo-Santos, a Honduras national who was in the U.S. illegally and was arrested and charged for the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl. Initially Fajardo-Santos was placed on a $75,000 bond, but bail was raised to $300,000 when U.S. immigration officials placed a detainer on him which would deport him if he were able to make bail.

A lawyer for Fajardo-Santos is arguing that the bail increase was not justified and says the detainer should not have accounted for such a large increase.

But Robert Bianchi, a prosecutor in the state, says it was important to keep Fajardo-Santos in the state to face charges.

“It’s not an issue of going after illegal immigrants,” he said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “It’s that you shouldn’t be able to take advantage of the deportation issue.”

Last year another illegal immigrant from Honduras, Carlos Ulloa-Murillo, was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a child but was deported prior to having a court date.

Leave a comment