Alleged fentanyl-smuggling immigrants lead police on dangerous cornfield chase
A Grundy County official told Fox News that Illinois sanctuary state policies allowed the two Honduran illegal immigrants to travel through the county unchecked.
Grundy is a primarily rural county northwest of Chicago.
The footage, taken Oct. 24, shows the two immigrants, Roybin Barahona, 18, and Cristhian Anahel Erazo Velasquez, 23, swerving in a vehicle through the cornfield, and authorities rammed a vehicle into their car to get them to stop. After their car was rammed, the two men fled their sedan, and officers continued their pursuit.
Footage taken later shows law enforcement discovering a deadly payload of seven pounds of fentanyl in the immigrants' burned-out vehicle. Both were charged with controlled substance trafficking, possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and resisting arrest, according to local outlet WSPY News.
Due to the Illinois SAFE-T Act, which abolished Illinois' cash bail system in 2023, Barahona was released without bail, after which he allegedly fled to California.
Velasquez, meanwhile, remains in custody, and the Department of Homeland Security has filed a detainer against him. Despite the detainer, Illinois sanctuary laws continue to prevent local law enforcement from sharing information with federal immigration officials about Velasquez.
Speaking with Fox News, Grundy County Board Chairman Drew Muffler voiced his frustration with the Illinois sanctuary law. He said that "because we are a sanctuary state, it allowed for illegal bad actors to be traveling with seven pounds of fentanyl through our county.
"I don't agree with putting handcuffs on law enforcement and preventing them from working effectively with federal authorities," he said. "By restricting law enforcement's ability to enforce the law, we are undermining public safety."
Grundy County was the first of several dozen counties in Illinois that defied the state by enacting a non-sanctuary ordinance. This comes after an influx of over 51,000 immigrants were bussed to Chicago since the summer of 2022.
During the migrant crisis, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has doubled down on the city's sanctuary policies, saying in a recent ABC 7 Chicago interview, "We will always remain a welcoming and sanctuary space."
Johnson vowed to resist the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration and called the decision to allow ICE to carry out enforcement and removal operations on church and school properties "unconscionable and reprehensible."
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