Chicago City Wire

Vicente Torres-Vasquez’s criminal past should place him high on the list for deportation back to his native Mexico under the Trump administration’s immigration directives to deport those who are a threat to the public.

In Wauconda on July 24, 2011, Torres-Vasquez drank 15 beers and a bottle of tequila before driving his SUV into a motorcycle driven by Gregory Homola, 55, former Marine and father of five. Homola was killed. Two women in another car were also injured in the accident. Torres-Vasquez was sentenced to 18 years but served 13. This was his fourth DUI, and Homola’s sister, Robi Vollkommer, would love to see him go.

“Why would any country want to harbor such vermin?” Vollkommer told Chicago City Wire in an email. “I’m sure U.S. taxpayers are paying for his current existence in a halfway house. Good riddance!”

Vicente Torres-Vasquez (pictured left), former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas | Illinois Department of Corrections | U.S. Department of Homeland Security

For an earlier report on Torres-Vasquez, the Illinois Department of Corrections said it had no intention of notifying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when he completes his work release program -- his projected mandatory supervised release date is Nov. 3, 2026, and his projected discharge date is Nov. 3, 2028.

An IDOC spokesperson said that the Department “complies with the Illinois Trust Act and its prohibitions on most communications with federal immigration authorities."

The Trust Act, signed in 2017 by former Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, made Illinois a sanctuary state, one that “generally prohibits local law enforcement in Illinois from participating in immigration enforcement,” according to the Illinois Attorney General’s website.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, has vowed to continue protecting illegals, even criminal ones, by requiring state agencies to adhere to the provisions in the law; he has reminded them that they are not authorized to cooperate with ICE.

IDOC is honoring that directive, according to the popular police blog Second City Cop.

"We’re hearing that the Illinois Department of Corrections sent out a letter to all employees...ordering them not to contact ICE when paroling illegals, murderers, rapists, burglars, robbers and other ne'er-do-wells,” Second City Cop wrote in a recent post.

“We've also heard that some connected people got copies of the letter and forwarded it along to ICE and Tom Homan [Trump’s border czar].”

IDOC did not respond to a request to verify the post.

ICE did not respond to a request whether it had Torres-Vasquez on its radar for deportation.