Despite activist heat, ICE continues fight against crime

Despite resistance from progressive activists, law enforcement must protect Americans from criminal illegal immigrants. To that measure we applaud the men and women of Immigration and Customs Enforcement who have detained more than 50 illegal immigrants in raids this week, targeting suspected drug dealers — many of whom had been freed by local judges or jails, as the Herald reported.

The crackdown happened in East Boston, Dorchester, Lawrence, the Worcester area, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Connecticut, according to law enforcement. The focus was to strike a blow against the opioid epidemic in the region by targeting fentanyl, heroin and cocaine dealers and others in the periphery. The information we have on those apprehended is jarring. The detainees include three illegal immigrants from Brazil who are wanted there for murder, according to an official. This week’s raids included some with drug convictions or pending drug cases, with many eligible for deportation.

According to officials, in many cases, the illegal immigrant drug suspects had been allowed to go free by local judges and jails despite active ICE detainers. It is no surprise that in the Trump era so many activists in the legal system and political arena have mobilized and taken extraordinary steps to use their positions to push back at the administration.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has called for the abolishment of ICE and many municipalities have declared themselves sanctuary cities. We must condemn this kind of reckless activism on behalf of elected leaders and judges who have irresponsibly gone rogue in their roles, to the detriment to U.S. citizens. Just this week Gov. Charlie Baker called for District Court Judge Shelley Joseph to step aside from the bench while a federal investigation looks into whether she helped a man slip away from ICE whom she had reason to believe was in the country illegally.

According to the Department of Justice, out of the 183,058 inmates in Bureau of Prisons custody, 38,132 (21 percent) were reported as known or suspected aliens. In Texas alone, 251,000 criminal aliens have been booked into local jails between June 1, 2011 and April 30, 2018. Of the 663,000 criminal offenses they were charged with, 1,351 were homicides and 7,156 were sexual assaults.

In Massachusetts, Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Lawrence, Newton, Northampton and Amherst are all considered sanctuary cities, where immigration detainers have been ignored. Boston’s Trust Act — a de facto sanctuary city policy — forbids police from participating in immigration busts unless ICE has a criminal warrant.

Yesterday, the head of the Boston-area ICE office sounded off on the issue:

“While some, apparently even within our courts system, seem not to grasp the threat posed when criminal illegal aliens are allowed to evade immigration law, the men and women of ICE, through efforts like the one we have completed this week, remain committed to apprehending those dangerous criminal aliens who threaten our communities,” said Todd M. Lyons, acting field office director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, Boston.

Thank goodness those in ICE and law enforcement in general have the resolve to concentrate on doing their jobs, above the political fray and against the headwinds of the efforts of activist judges and mayors.