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Newark Murder Suspect's Status Raises Eyebrows

Jose Carranza Lived In Orange Illegally; Walked Free After Two Arrests This Year

NEWARK (CBS) ― The suspected ringleader in the Newark schoolyard shootings appeared before a judge Monday.

Jose Carranza, 28, who was in court on an unrelated case, had nothing to say as he was escorted out of the Essex County Courthouse.

Carranza, who is in this country illegally, had been out on bail when the shootings happened.

On Monday, the New Jersey Attorney General's Office said it will look into the matter. But how does something like this happen?

"This is someone who committed a crime and was walking around and was walking around free," Councilman Ron Rice said.

As Carranza left the courthouse Monday many people asked the question, how did it get to this point?

How was Carranza, a man who came to this country illegally from Peru, a man already arrested twice this year, set free to allegedly commit more crimes?

"Part of what I'm trying to do by resolution is to get Newark Police to work with law enforcement on a county level, federal level to try and track these folks," Rice said.

Carranza was free on $150,000 bail and was facing charges of aggravated assault and sexual abuse of a child at the time of the Newark murders.

So why wasn't this undocumented immigrant transferred to a federal detention center?

It's because of a loophole. Local authorities aren't required to report the immigration status of the people they arrest.

"It is important for local law enforcement officials to keep focused on issues of criminal activity, not status" said Shai Goldstein of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network. "It is not the role of local law enforcement to be concerned with federal immigration status."

Goldstein said this crime is not about Carranza being an undocumented immigrant.

"Whenever any crime occurs that's uniform regardless of status, the anger and angst must be against the perpetrator of the crime and not against any group or status," Goldstein said.

So what does the government say about this? CBS 2 HD contacted Immigration and Customs enforcement who gave us this statement:

"Could we have done something? Absolutely. Would we have done something? Yes. The system works very well when it's done the right way, but ICE wasn't contacted about Mr. Carranza until last Thursday after the Newark shootings. If we had known earlier he would have been detained."

Carranza had his bail revoked by a judge on Monday. He's charged with three counts of murder and other related charges, along with two other 15-year-old boys. A fourth suspect is currently being sought by police.

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