Sanctuary Policies Let Illegal Alien Charged in Child Sex Crimes Walk Free Until DHS Airport Arrest

An illegal migrant charged in Oregon with rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse was arrested by federal authorities at Portland International Airport after local sanctuary policies did not result in his referral to immigration officials, according to the Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The New York Post.

Manuel Cruz-Ramirez, a Mexican national, was taken into custody after Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents flagged a fraudulent Mexican passport he was allegedly using at the airport.

CHILD PREDATOR AND RAPIST ARRESTED.

On February 3, ICE and TSA apprehended Manuel Cruz-Ramirez, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico, at the Portland International Airport while he was attempting to flee the U.S. with a fake passport. He was arrested in 2025 for rape,… pic.twitter.com/VtfyLbquT0

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 13, 2026

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DHS said the falsified name on the document did not return full data, prompting further scrutiny.

Cruz-Ramirez had previously been arrested and released on bail in Marion County, Oregon, where sanctuary policies limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

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According to DHS, he was not referred to immigration officers upon his arrest and release because of the county’s sanctuary status.

“Manuel Cruz-Ramirez was arrested for rape, purchasing sex with a minor, and sexual abuse in Oregon,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.

“The state’s sanctuary politicians allowed this pedophile to be released from jail back into American communities.”

DHS officials stated that in jurisdictions without sanctuary policies, Cruz-Ramirez would have been referred to immigration officers, who would have taken him into custody before his release from detention.

“Americans can be proud of the swift actions of TSA and CBP for protecting them and our judicial system by preventing this monster from fleeing the country,” McLaughlin explained.

“Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans.”

“Oregon’s sanctuary politicians must stop this reckless insanity of releasing child predators from jail back into our neighborhoods to prey on more innocent children,” she added.

DHS also confirmed to Fox News Digital that Cruz-Ramirez had previously been deported from the United States in 2018. Officials said he re-entered the country at an unknown time and location.

He is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and his prior removal order has been reinstated.

The arrest comes amid ongoing tensions in Portland, where agitators have confronted federal law enforcement during anti-ICE demonstrations. On Jan. 9, 2026, anti-ICE protesters rallied in the streets of Portland, Oregon.

Fox News Digital reported Thursday that DHS launched an investigation into an Oregon resident arrested during a traffic stop who allegedly possessed knives and materials used to make Molotov cocktails.

Authorities said the 18-year-old individual authored a manifesto expressing an intent to kill ICE agents at a Portland ICE office and had planned to obtain an AR-15 rifle to carry out the attack.

Democrats, including members of Congress, have referred to ICE agents as Nazis and Gestapo. The Trump administration has said such rhetoric endangers the lives of federal law enforcement officers nationwide.

In an interview with Fox News Digital earlier this month, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem contrasted cities that cooperate with federal authorities with those led by far-left officials.

“Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Twin Cities, have an opportunity to do the same thing that Memphis did. There we had a Democrat mayor who worked with us,” Noem told Fox News Digital.

“It was about the same size as a city, about the same amount of federal law enforcement officers were there, and we dramatically cut crime and murder rates and partnered well together.”

Cruz-Ramirez remains in ICE custody as his case proceeds.

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