ICE confirms suspect in San Francisco stabbing is Venezuelan criminal illegal alien who entered the U.S. under Biden administration’s deadly ‘catch-and-release’ policies

SAN FRANCISCO - ICE has confirmed that Wilfredo Jose Tortolero-Arriechi, the 35-year-old suspect in a deadly Dec. 4 stabbing at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, is a criminal illegal alien from Venezuela.

"Tortolero-Arriechi illegally entered the U.S. in 2023, was let go under the Biden administration's catch-and-release policies, and ended up in the sanctuary city where Gavin Newsom was once mayor and Kamala Harris was the district attorney," said ICE Director Todd M. Lyons.

U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered Tortolero-Arriechi in 2023, when he illegally entered the United States. The Biden administration released him back into the United States, where he disappeared into California before viciously stabbing to death 51-year-old Alberto Rangel. Rangel died Dec. 6, two days after the attack.

Tortolero-Arriechi pleaded not guilty to the homicide and use of a deadly weapon charges levied against him following Rangel's death. In the weeks before the fatal attack, he allegedly threatened his doctor and multiple staff members.

Tortolero-Arriechi is currently in custody at the San Francisco County Jail, and on Dec. 11, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against him. ICE is calling on San Francisco to honor his detainer once he has been tried, sentenced, and serves his sentence.

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