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FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has criticized the state of California for not honoring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests for two illegal immigrants accused of murdering a 24-year-old mother earlier this month.
Franquin Inestroza-Martinez, a Honduran, and Gerzon Jose Chirinos-Munguia, also from Honduras, were arrested in Santa Clara County on suspicion of killing Kembery Chirinos-Flores with a gun in early January.
Chirinos-Munguia is the father of Chirinos-Flores’ 5-year-old son, and was arrested in 2018 on charges of battery and false imprisonment, and in 2019 on charges of domestic battery and criminal threatening with intent to torture, DHS said.
DHS has criticized Santa Clara County for not honoring the ICE detainees arrested with two suspects accused of killing 24-year-old mother Kembery Chirinos-Flores. (Courtesy of DHS)
He was released back to California without ICE being notified in both 2018 and 2019, according to DHS.
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“A man lost his life, and a child now has no mother. These illegal immigrants should not have been able to commit these horrific murders and they should NOT be released from prison into American communities,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Inestroza-Martinez, who was allegedly associated with the boy’s father, also had an arrest warrant out of New Jersey for the March 2025 murder of a 55-year-old man, according to DHS.
DHS said he was deported from the US in 2013, and again in 2018. He re-entered the country illegally on an unknown date and time before the alleged murders of the man in New Jersey and Chirinos-Flores.
Franquin Inestroza-Martinez, left, and Gerzon Jose Chirinos-Munguia were arrested for murder. DHS says it was not their first case in the US (Courtesy of DHS)
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DHS pointed to the California Value Act (CVA), a “sanctuary” law that prohibits local police from questioning suspects about their immigration status and limits cooperation between federal immigration agents and local authorities.
“Instead of cooperating with ICE, Santa Clara politicians refuse to honor an ICE detainer and will not notify ICE when these murderers are released from prison,” Bis added. “This insanity of refusing to turn over cold-blooded killers to ICE must stop.”
The CVA was signed into law in 2017 in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration efforts during his first term.
The Trump administration sued California over the California Value Act during his first term as president. (Shawn Thew/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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The Trump administration sued California over the law in 2017-18, although the case was dismissed by the US District Court for the Eastern District of California. The case failed again on appeal and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case in 2020.
CBS News reported that the child was not injured in the incident and has been taken into the custody of child protection.
Migrants are processed by the US Border Patrol after crossing the US-Mexico border in San Diego in 2024. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
“Kembery was growing up. She was working two jobs, and she was a loving mother of a five-year-old son,” said Santa Clara Department of Public Safety Chief Dan Pistor at a press conference following the arrests.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Santa Clara County Board President but did not receive a response.
The president of the Santa Clara County Board did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
News tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and X @MizellPreston
