ICE: SANCTUARY CITIES A ‘PUBLIC SAFETY THREAT’
Status forcing agency to conduct large-scale raids
ICE announced it rounded up 58 suspected illegal immigrants — some also wanted for murder in their native countries — in a sweep across New England detaining suspects they said posed “a potential public safety threat” that were allowed to roam free due to sanctuary city policies.
“ICE officers in New England continue to enforce immigration laws as they have always done, targeting criminal aliens and removing them from our streets,” said Todd M. Lyons, the acting ICE chief in Boston. “Despite unjustified criticism, our officers continue to work daily with professionalism and integrity to enforce immigration law and protect our communities from criminal aliens.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents nabbed the suspected illegal immigrants over the past week after some of the suspects were bailed or let go by local judges and jails. The raids were carried out in East Boston, Dorchester, Lawrence, the Worcester area, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
“Some ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ including Boston, do not honor ICE detainers, these individuals, who often have significant criminal histories, are released onto the street, presenting a potential public safety threat,” ICE stated.
Boston is one of a handful of municipalities around the state that have adopted sanctuary city policies, where police are forbidden from working with federal immigration officials.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The state Executive Office of the Trial Court did respond, providing its rules that instruct courthouse personnel to take a hands-off request when it comes to ICE. The agency can conduct enforcement in Massachusetts courthouses, but the court officers cannot help on pure immigration matters, the rules state.
“Trial Court employees do not have authority to detain an individual based solely on a civil immigration detainer,” the memo stated.
ICE, which has taken increasing heat in the era of President Trump and his hard-line immigration stance, said 15 of the suspected illegal immigrants were released by local authorities or courts despite a request from the feds to hold them. The agency says that kind of cooperation had once been commonplace.
“ICE thus has no alternative but to periodically conduct at-large arrests in local communities instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” the agency said in a release.
ICE did not provide a breakdown of the identities of the 58 arrested, but criminal histories included murder, aggravated identity theft, assault and drug dealing.
Of the 58, at least 33 have previous convictions or criminal charges already pending, ICE said. Nine have been kicked out of the country before and returned illegally, and four had warrants out from Interpol.
Those rounded up include illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Haiti and Antigua.