ICE Operation in Boston Results in Nearly 400 Arrests, Over 200 Included Criminal Aliens
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that a large-scale operation in Massachusetts resulted in the arrests of nearly 400 illegal immigrants, including over 200 individuals with criminal convictions or charges.
“The Commonwealth is a safer place for our residents to live and work because ICE and our federal law enforcement partners arrested hundreds of alien offenders and removed them from the streets of Massachusetts,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde in a press release.
The operation, conducted between March 18 and March 23, led to the apprehension of 370 illegal immigrants in the Boston area. Of those arrested, 205 had “significant criminal convictions or charges,” and six were facing charges or had prior convictions for offenses including murder, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering.
ICE stated that the operation focused on “egregious criminal alien offenders,” which included members of the gangs MS-13 and Tren de Aragua. The arrests took place despite Boston’s status as a so-called “sanctuary city,” where local authorities limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
The operation was conducted with assistance from federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, Customs and Border Protection, ATF, US Marshals Service, and DSS. Authorities also seized approximately 44 kilograms of methamphetamines, 5 kilograms of fentanyl, and 1.2 kilograms of cocaine.
Among those arrested was a Dominican national who illegally re-entered the US after being charged with fentanyl trafficking, a Chilean national convicted of four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child, and a Honduran national convicted of child rape.
The arrests come as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has repeatedly pledged to protect illegal immigrants in the city. According to Fox News, Wu gave her recent State of the City address where she defended Boston’s policies.
“No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies,” Wu said.
“You belong here,” she said to migrants.
