Federal immigration agents arrested a convicted sex offender in Keizer, Oregon, this month after years of being blocked by the state’s sanctuary policy — and only after securing a federal court order to force Marion County officials to comply with an administrative subpoena.
Homeland Security Investigations agents took Victor Soseia Hachipan into custody in Keizer, a Marion County city. Hachipan, described as a got-away illegal alien from Micronesia, has been convicted on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a victim under 14 years old, two counts of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, two counts of second-degree burglary, and failure to report as a sex offender.
The case stretches back at least five years. Hachipan was in Marion County custody in 2021, when ICE lodged a detainer requesting he be held for transfer to federal custody. Oregon’s sanctuary state policy prevented local officials from honoring that detainer, and he was released back into the community.
He returned to Marion County custody in 2023 after another conviction. This time, HSI agents sought an administrative subpoena requiring local officials to hand over information on his whereabouts. County officials again refused, citing the sanctuary policy. Agents and the U.S. Attorney’s Office then went to federal court and obtained an order compelling Marion County to comply with the subpoena, leading to his arrest this month.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed to the case as evidence of how sanctuary policies can delay the removal of people convicted of serious crimes.
“After sanctuary politicians in the state of Oregon refused to honor an ICE detainer, as well as a subpoena, we finally arrested this illegal alien from Micronesia, a convicted sex offender, after obtaining a court order from a federal judge to enforce the subpoena,” Mullin said. “This Department is steadfast in its mission to arrest and remove the worst illegal aliens like this sex offender who has no place in American society. We will continue to hunt down and remove public safety threats from our communities.”
Mullin also said the administration would continue pressing forward regardless of state-level sanctuary policies. “The Trump Administration will never let sanctuary politicians stand in the way of protecting American citizens,” he said.
The case illustrates the friction between federal immigration enforcement and Oregon’s sanctuary state law, which restricts the use of state and local resources to assist federal immigration authorities. In this instance, it took not just a detainer refusal but a second standoff over a federal subpoena — and ultimately a judge’s order — before Hachipan could be taken into custody.
