Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada—one of four dangerous criminal illegal aliens who had escaped from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Center (ICE) in New Jersey—was thwarted by New Jersey State Police when he attempted to surrender, due to the state's opposition to enforcement of US immigration law, according to a DHS press release:

"On June 13, 2025, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada, a criminal illegal alien from Colombia whose criminal record includes arrests for burglary, theft, and conspiracy to commit burglary, attempted to turn himself in to local authorities at the New Jersey State Police Bridgeton Station.

"Due to their sanctuary policies, the State Police refused to take him into custody because they do not work with ICE."

Undeterred, Castaneda-Lozada successfully surrendered himself to FBI and ICE agents in Milleville, New Jersey two days later.

"Disturbingly, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada tried to turn himself into local authorities and was turned away because of the state's sanctuary policies that prohibit law enforcement from working with ICE," a senior DHS official says in the release.

"Thankfully, this criminal alien has now been arrested and is no longer a threat to Americans," the DHS official reports.

While so-called "sanctuary" cities and states refuse to cooperate with federal immigration agencies, such as by refusing to honor federally-issued detainment orders, most make exceptions for dangerous criminals. But, actually refusing to allow a criminal illegal alien to surrender himself takes sanctuary opposition to federal immigration law to an extraordinary new level.

Obstruction of federal immigration authorities has become so severe in New Jersey that the Trump Administration is suing four cities in the state for violating the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, which gives federal law precedence over all local and state laws and constitutions.

According to the lawsuit, the cities of Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken and Patterson "deny federal immigration agents access to illegal aliens in their custody; restrict local officers' ability to hand over illegal aliens to federal agents; and bar otherwise willing local officers from providing mission-critical information to federal immigration authorities."

The lawsuit also notes that federal law requires detention of criminal illegal aliens, citing the high-profile case of Laken Riley, a nursing student killed by an illegal alien who had been released, rather than turned over to immigration authorities, despite having a criminal record. The tragedy led to Pres. Trump signing into law the Laken Riley Act:

"Federal agents are required to detain illegal aliens who have committed certain offenses upon their release from state custody. On January 29, 2025, President Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act, named for the nursing student killed by an alien who, after entering the United States illegally, committed additional crimes but was released before immigration authorities could intervene.

"Through this legislation, Congress not only recently reaffirmed its commitment to this mandate, but augmented the authority of federal agents in this space by adding predicate offenses that trigger this detention requirement. Id. §§ 1226(c), (c)(3), 1357(d); see also Laken Riley Act, S. 5, 119th Cong. (2025)."

"In just the last two months alone, the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark has repeatedly refused to cooperate with federal immigration officials to keep dangerous illegal aliens off the streets," the lawsuit reports:

"a. On April 5, 2025, the Essex County Correctional Facility released an alien from Nigeria arrested for theft and credit card theft, with a prior arrest for theft, despite an ICE detainer lodged against him.

"b. On April 3, 2025, the Essex County Correctional Facility released an alien from Peru arrested for domestic violence, despite an ICE detainer lodged against him.

"c. On March 31, 2025, the Essex County Correctional Facility released two aliens from Brazil who had both been arrested for domestic violence and assault, despite ICE detainers lodged against them." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

MRCTV Editor's Note: James Mortensen contributed to this report.

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