Jorge Alberto Rios-Doblado was deported twice in 2003 and 2004 before returning from Honduras and settle in New Jersey. Sunday, he was arrested in the strangulation, rape, and murder of a 45 year-old nanny who had emigrated here from Peru.

Carolina Cano went out for a jog a little over a week ago when she was murdered and her body dumped in a lake in Lincoln Park in Jersey City, near where she lived, according to police. The murder sent horror and fear through the city and the rest of this "sanctuary state."

Perhaps he was drawn to New Jersey due to the rhetoric of the governor and top state officials pledging not to cooperate with ICE in handing over illegal aliens in state custody. Maybe he just thought it was a nice place to live. There are possibly hundreds, maybe thousands like Rios, who've been deported and have criminal records, that feel New Jersey is a safe place to hide in plain site.

According to an ICE. official quoted in and NJ.com article, "ICE maintains that cooperation by local law enforcement is an indispensable component of promoting public safety. ICE will seek taking custody of Rios at the conclusion of his criminal proceedings, despite limited cooperation in the state.”

​Maybe leaders in this state should stop pandering to what they hope is a whole crop of future voters and concern themselves more with the safety and well-being of the legal residents of this state. What happened to Ms. Cano was horrific, despicable and totally preventable. One of the few and more important responsibilities of our elected officials both state and federal is to maintain the safety of it's citizens. It's sad that some of them have sent the message to dangerous criminals here illegally that New Jersey is a safe haven for them.

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