QT’s clerk’s death shows Obama administration’s “callous disregard for law”

Rep. Matt Salmon called out the Obama administration’s “callous disregard for the law and the effects these policies are having on law-abiding citizens” in a Dear Colleague letter. After distributing the letter to all members of Congress, Rep. Salmon cited the death of the young QT clerk, who was killed by an illegal alien last month.

“The fruit of this administration’s unconstitutional actions were on full display two weeks ago, when a law-abiding 21-year old store clerk was senselessly murdered by a convicted criminal who was in our nation illegally.

“Under President Obama’s deliberate misinterpretations of our immigration laws, Mr. Apolinar Altamirano was released into Arizona while he awaited a deportation hearing. Mr. Altamirano had already been convicted on a burglary charge, he had already threatened to kill two women, and he had already claimed ties to the ‘Mexican Mafia.’ But to an administration that pursues the nullification of our immigration laws with its deceitful catch-and-release policy, Mr. Altamirano was free to live with law-abiding Arizonans.

“This disgraceful conduct must end. Our immigration laws exist for a reason, and one man’s unilateral efforts to abrogate them must face Congressional action. That’s why I urged my colleagues to join me today and work to stop these policies.”

Grant Ronnebeck, a clerk at the QuikTrip in Mesa, Arizona was murdered by Apolinar Altamirano, who was in the country illegally. Altamirano, age 29, shot the young clerk as he was counting the change Altamirano had spilled on the counter to pay for his cigarettes. According to FOX10 News, while Ronnebeck was counting the change, Altamirano pulled out a gun and opened fire.

Related article: Mesa QT clerk murderer is in the country illegally

Sources close to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office report that Altamirano, a citizen of Mexico, was charged with burglary in 2012, but the County Attorney’s office allowed him to plead guilty to an amended charge of facilitation to commit burglary and he was placed on probation for two years. A judge had ordered notification of U.S. immigration officials, and Altamirano was given bond by federal immigration authorities after pleading guilty to the lesser charge.

Altamirano has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder, armed robbery, burglary, unlawful flight and misconduct involving weapons because he is a prohibited possessor.

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