1,800 immigrants re-arrested after release, report says

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- More than 1,800 immigrants were released from local jails only to be re-arrested for various crimes, including drug violations and drunken driving, according to a government report released on Monday.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement report said the re-arrested immigrants were among 8,145 people who were freed between January and August 2014 despite requests from federal agents that they be held for deportation.

Hundreds of jurisdictions across the country have stopped honoring so-called immigration detainers, saying they can't hold arrestees beyond their scheduled release dates without probable cause.

The fatal shooting of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in San Francisco earlier this month moved the long-running debate back into the national spotlight. Steinle was shot to death while walking on a San Francisco pier and authorities arrested Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, who was released from jail in April even through immigration officials had lodged a detainer to try to deport him from the country for a sixth time.

It isn't uncommon for those released from jail to get re-arrested. About 43 percent of 405,000 prisoners freed from state prisons in 2005 were arrested within a year, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump spoke about the immigration issue during an event in Los Angeles Friday and invited Jamiel Shaw's family to speak. The star football player was shot and killed by an undocumented immigrant in March 2008, just one day after being released from jail. The suspect, Pedro Espinoza, was a known gang member.

"He was in jail for assault with a deadly weapon, battery on a peace officer and he only got eight months in the county jail, then released him four months early," Jamiel Shaw Sr. said.

Seven years later, Shaw Sr. says immigration reform has not changed because of inaction from lawmakers.

"The coroner said that he was laying on his back with a bullet wound in his stomach with his hands up, and he was shot through his hand into his head," Shaw Sr. said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.