US immigrant faces deportation after reporting prowler to police

An undocumented immigrant who called police to report a burglary was himself arrested, while the suspect was allowed to go free.

Officers in the Seattle suburb of Tukwila detained father-of-three Wilson Macarreno at his home last Thursday.

He was held after they found a warrant from immigration officials in a national crime database.

Mr Macarreno’s lawyer says his client fled violence in Honduras in 2004, and has no criminal record in the US.

The attorney, Luis Cortes, says the arrest itself was illegal. He argues that police do not have authority to detain people on behalf of immigration agents.

The lawyer also says his 32-year-old client is a carpenter, church leader and family man who has three young children who were born in the US.

Mr Macarreno said he called police after spotting someone trying to break into his car in the early hours.

Officers questioned a trespasser, but they lacked probable cause to arrest him so he was released, according to Tukwila Police Department.

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