Since Donald Trump became president, local governments in highly Democratic areas have announced their intentions to shield illegal immigrants from deportation. Now, a local law enforcement agency in Arizona is joining in the obstruction.

Escaped #USBP suspect who assaulted agent ID. Still missing Call 911/748-3000 with tips pic.twitter.com/diWFsg9EHQ

— CBP Arizona (@CBPArizona) March 4, 2017

Last weekend, the Tucson Police Department (TPD) refused to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with recovering a violent illegal immigrant who had escaped from custody. According to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Art del Cueto, 37-year-old Carlos Erazo-Velasquez violently assaulted a border patrol agent before escaping.

The Police Department v. the Border Patrol

From Honduras,Erazo-Velasquez has been deported before and has a serious criminal history. Exhausted from running, he was soon caught, and transported to a hospital for medical treatment. While undergoing treatment, he escaped again.

A police supervisor informed the agents, “Due to the recent political climate, the Tucson Police Department could no longer assist the Border Patrol.”

As Border Patrol agents looked for Erazo-Velasquez, protesters in the predominantly Democratic city reportedly blocked one of their vehicles. Agents set up an incident command center in the TPD parking lot, according to Breitbart Texas. At first, TPD cooperated with them.

But later a police supervisor informed them that “Due to the recent political climate, the Tucson Police Department could no longer assist the Border Patrol.” The Border Patrol was ordered off the property.

TPD claims this was done in part due to a lack of staff and a busy night dealing with other types of crime, posting a full statement in response.

The Tucson Sector Border Patrol’s union posted a frustrated rant on its Facebook page.

This is now the times we are living in. Where one law enforcement agency has put politics over rule of law and oath of office. Never has Border Patrol or Border Patrol Agents refused or ignored a call for help from Tucson Police Department.

Nothing to Do With Immigration

“It has nothing to do with immigration,” del Cueto said, according to a report by Tucson News Now. “It has something to do with a convicted felon running around the streets of Tucson, and Tucson changing their mind and stopping from doing the right thing because of political pressure, and that is wrong.”

The TPD is headed by liberal Police Chief Chris Magnus, known for supporting Black Lives Matter when he was police chief of the Richmond Police Department in California. He admitted to the East Bay Times in a 2012 interview, “I’m probably not a cops’ chief.” He is also known for posting articles on Facebook by liberal New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.

Top Cop: As police chief of gritty Richmond, California, Chris Magnus embraced Black Lives Matter,… https://t.co/bCLe0LkyhC | @washmonthly

— Breaking DC News (@BreakingDC_News) October 26, 2016

Erazo-Velasquez remains at large, and criticism of the department has begun mounting. Tucson has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation. On a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the safest city, Tucson scores a 1 on the website NeighborhoodScout’s report.

A study done a few years ago in neighboring Maricopa County, Arizona, found that illegal immigrants commit crimes at a rate significantly higher than the general population. While they comprise 9 percent of the population, they commit 21.8 percent of felonies. Del Cueto told Breitbart Texas, “This man being on the loose is a danger to the community and any other law enforcement officer he might encounter.”

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC