DHS Slams Sanctuary Politicians for Refusing to Honor ICE Detainer for Criminal Illegal Alien Truck Driver Who Killed American, Charged with Vehicular Homicide

An ICE detainer is a written request that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sends to a jail or other law‑enforcement agency asking them to: (1) tell ICE before they release someone ICE believes is deportable, and (2) keep that person in custody for up to 48 hours longer than they normally would so ICE has time to take the person into federal custody.

By itself, a detainer is not a criminal arrest warrant signed by a judge. Federal courts have held that detainers are voluntary requests, not orders, and local agencies can be sued if they hold someone without proper legal authority based only on a detainer.

In this DHS press release, the phrase 'sanctuary politicians' is a political label for Washington state and local elected officials who back laws and policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

DHS is criticizing:

• Washington State lawmakers who passed the 2019 Keep Washington Working Act, which restricts how local police and jails may assist ICE, and
• Local officials (such as county leaders and sheriffs) whose jail policies follow that law and therefore do not treat ICE detainers as mandatory.

The press release does not name any specific politicians or offices; it refers only generally to 'Washington sanctuary politicians' and 'sanctuary policies.'

In Washington State, local authorities rely on both state law and legal liability concerns to decline ICE detainers:

1. State sanctuary law (Keep Washington Working Act). RCW 10.93.160 and related provisions bar state and local law‑enforcement agencies from using their resources to enforce federal civil immigration law, except where required by law. Attorney‑general guidance based on this law says local agencies generally should not honor immigration detainers or civil immigration warrants that are not signed by a judge.

2. Local policies shaped by court rulings. Federal cases such as Galarza v. Szalczyk and Miranda‑Olivares v. Clackamas County have held that ICE detainers are non‑binding requests and that jails can violate the Fourth Amendment by holding people solely on a detainer without a judicial warrant. Counties can be held financially liable for such unlawful detention. As a result, many Washington counties have policies not to honor ICE detainers unless there is a judge‑signed warrant or court order.

A Thurston County prosecutor’s spokesperson, explaining this in the context of recent trucking cases, said Washington law prohibits local agencies from assisting with federal immigration enforcement and that many counties treat ICE detainers as lacking the legal authority of a judicial warrant.

Kamalpreet Singh is accused of causing the Dec. 11 crash that killed 29‑year‑old Robert Pearson on State Route 167 in Washington. DHS and local reporting state that he was arrested and faces a vehicular homicide charge under Washington law in connection with Pearson’s death.

According to trucking‑industry and local reports cited by DHS, Singh was booked into King County jail and ICE lodged an immigration detainer. He was then released from the King County jail on bond (reported as 100,000 dollars) despite the detainer. Publicly available sources linked to the DHS press release state that he was released from local custody; they do not clearly document any later re‑arrest, so his subsequent custody status is not confirmed in the public record.

Public reporting tied to the DHS release indicates that the key jurisdiction that declined to hold Singh for ICE was King County, Washington:

• The fatal crash occurred near Auburn in King County.
• Singh was arrested and booked into the King County jail.
• ICE confirmed to reporters that it lodged a detainer with the King County jail, and that Singh was released on bond from that facility.

DHS’s press release therefore blames 'Washington sanctuary politicians,' but the concrete non‑compliance with the detainer in Singh’s case occurred at the King County jail, operating under Washington’s statewide sanctuary law and local policies.

DHS’s statement that Singh 'illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released into this country by the Biden administration' is based on DHS/ICE’s own internal immigration records; those underlying files (such as the Border Patrol arrest report or his immigration case file) are not publicly posted.

The only public support for this claim comes from:

• DHS’s own press release, which asserts that he entered near Lukeville, Arizona, in 2023 and was released, and
• News stories that quote ICE officials repeating the same description of his prior border apprehension and release.

Independent primary documents confirming the exact date, location, and terms of his release (such as court dockets or publicly available Border Patrol records) have not been made available, so the detail is currently verifiable only to the extent that DHS/ICE says it is true.

The VOICE Office (Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement) is a unit within DHS/ICE created to assist people who say they were victims of crimes committed by non‑citizens.

According to ICE, VOICE:

• Provides a toll‑free hotline and email where victims and their families can get information about an offender’s immigration status and custody (for example, whether the person is in ICE detention or has been removed).
• Helps victims understand and navigate the immigration aspects of their case and connects them with victim‑service providers (such as counseling, legal and social‑service referrals).
• Coordinates with other DHS victim‑assistance programs.

It does not prosecute crimes itself; it is mainly an information, support, and referral service focused on cases where the offender is a removable non‑citizen.