ICE nearly released sex abuse convicts after confusion over Biden's 'release them all' memo

AUSTIN, Texas - Immigration authorities prepared to release three men in Texas convicted of sex offenses against children in an apparent misapplication of President Joe Biden’s enforcement directives.

Biden issued a new directive on immigration enforcement on his first day in office: Under the new memorandum, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were to focus their efforts on threats to national security, threats to public safety and immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally on or after Nov. 1.

ICE dropped "detainer" requests – which require state and local law enforcement to hold a person who potentially entered the U.S. illegally – against 26 people as a result of the change in policy, according to Jason Clark, chief of staff at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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Most of the 26 were convicted of drug charges or drunk-driving offenses, but two men were convicted of sexually assaulting a teenager and a third was convicted of indecency with a child.

People convicted of sex offenses against minors still qualify for enforcement under the Biden policies, as the memorandum defines public safety threats as people "who have been convicted of an aggravated felony."

The three were not released after discussions in recent weeks between the state prison system and immigration authorities. But the process of keeping them in custody raised alarms that ICE was declining to detain convicts contrary to immigration law, officials said.

ICE confirmed to Fox News that it is holding Jose Lara-Lopez, 41, following his release from the Texas State Penitentiary, where he was incarcerated for sexually assaulting a minor – pending disposition of his immigration proceeding.

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ICE "makes arrests and custody determinations on a case-by-case basis, based on the totality of the circumstances and does so in compliance with federal law and agency policy," the agency told Fox News in a statement.