By Shane Tenorio Healy
For Variety
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Eleven investigators working for the Office of the Attorney General were deputized by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Attorney General Douglas Moylan on Monday said 11 investigators for the OAG, who work to assist in the prosecution of individuals suspected of crimes, will now be able to assist the federal government in detaining and deporting illegal immigrants charged and convicted of crimes.
Moylan made the announcement at a ceremony Monday morning at AG’s office in the Bank of Hawaii building in Hagåtña before the investigators received certificates making their deputization official. The deputization was a result of a memorandum of agreement signed by Moylan and ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheehan in September.
Moylan further explained to those in attendance and the public viewing online that the agreement between the OAG and ICE was worked out to ensure the safety of Guam.
“That’s the bottom line. It’s not about liking (or) not liking people. It’s not about whether or not we want to have certain races among us,” said Moylan, who multiple times highlighted that the court dockets consist of defendants from Chuuk.
The deputization, Moylan said, was also the next step for his office since January 2023, deporting or working toward deporting a total of 110 illegal immigrants convicted of crimes. Since Moylan took office in January 2023, deportation pleas have been offered to defendants, which, if agreed to, means defendants plead guilty to serious charges and face the maximum sentence, but instead of serving the sentence, they are required to leave Guam. If they return to Guam, a bench warrant will notify judges of their arrival and result in defendants serving the sentence at the Department of Corrections. Other deportation efforts have included removing inmates with ICE detainers before the completion of their sentence.
While those efforts are anticipated to continue, Moylan explained the deputization of OAG investigators may ensure illegal immigrants accused of crimes will be detained and deported before going to trial.
“The agreement is intended to not only create the coordination between the feds and local government but to allow anyone that has either a detainer or warrant issued by ICE, that my…11 AG investigators to work under the direction of ICE, to pick those guys up,” Moylan said.
“And I’m talking about at court hearings,” Moylan added.
An individual removed from Guam before trial would also relieve the stress for the people of Guam, according to Moylan.
“If we find a person that can be deported before that pretrial conference, before that trial, and that’s one less stressor on the people of Guam for having to pay for ten more prosecutors to manage the calendars that have all of these non-U.S. citizens on them,” Moylan said.
