Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement report concludes that new federal immigration policies would have prevented the release of an illegal immigrant who was subsequently charged with killing a nun in an alleged drunken driving accident.
Twenty-three-year-old Carlos Montano is awaiting trial in Virginia for involuntary manslaughter. Authorities say he was drunk and caused the crash last year that killed Sister Denise Mosier and injured two other nuns.
The case alarmed activists in Virginia and elsewhere, who wanted to know why Montano hadn’t been detained or deported for previous drunken-driving arrests.
The recent report says immigration policy at the time of Montano’s first arrest was to avoid detaining illegal immigrants when possible.