WIDE ICE SWEEP NETS 40
8 were deportees who returned illegally
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers fanned out across New England this month, arresting 40 criminal suspects — with or without the help of local authorities — in the largest such sweep in a year.
From Sept. 20 to 22, deportation officers made arrests in Boston, Chelsea, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Quincy, Revere, Somerville and Woburn, as well as cities in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
All 40 of those arrested were men and came from countries including Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Portugal, Ireland, Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba and Ecuador.
Most of the men had prior criminal histories that included convictions for crimes such as assault, burglary, drug trafficking, possession of narcotics, discharge of a firearm, domestic violence, sexual exploitation of a minor, driving under the influence, fraud, illegal entry, hit and run, larceny, weapons possession, and sex offenses, officials said.
Eight of those arrested had illegally re-entered the U.S. after having been deported, which is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison.
“This operation has removed many dangerous individuals from the community and will help contribute to the safety and security throughout the entire region,” Todd M. Lyons, ICE’s acting Boston field office director of enforcement and removal operations, said in a statement. “Part of the ICE/ERO mission is to make our communities safer places to live in by removing criminals; operations like this do exactly that.”
Among the 40 are:
• A 39-year-old Salvadoran national who recently was convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor. ICE arrested him on Sept. 21 in Malden.
• A Salvadoran citizen and reputed member of the gang MS-13 who was arrested by ICE on Sept. 21 in Chelsea. He had been removed from the U.S. in 2015 and now faces charges including leaving the scene of an accident and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
• A 22-year-old Guatemalan citizen who recently had been arrested by police on charges of domestic assault and battery and strangulation of a pregnant woman but had been released from a correction facility, even though ICE had requested that he be detained. ICE arrested him on Sept. 20 in Lynn after he was released from state custody.
• A 27-year-old Guatemalan citizen who was arrested on Sept. 20 by ICE in Cranston, R.I. He recently had been convicted of aggravated domestic assault and was the subject of a previous ICE detainer request that local authorities had not honored.
“Despite the daily obstacles faced from jurisdictions that take a ‘sanctuary city’ approach,” Lyons said, “ICE will not allow them to prevent Enforcement and Removal Operations officers from accomplishing our mission or from protecting the communities in the New England region from the threat posed by atlarge criminal aliens.”