(The Center Square) – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ERO) officers working with federal law enforcement partners apprehended another record number of illegal foreign nationals, 1,406, in Boston in a targeted immigration enforcement sweep.
In Operation Patriot 2.0, ICE ERO-Boston and ICE Homeland Security Investigations-New England officers led a multi-agency law enforcement effort. They targeted transnational organized crime, foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), transnational gangs, convicted felons and foreign fugitives in a several week operation. FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Marshals Service agents were involved.
Patriot 2.0 targeted FTO members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, violent gang members, convicted felons, including murderers, rapists, sex offenders and drug traffickers, and foreign fugitives with foreign arrest warrants or Interpol Red Notices wanted in several countries.
ICE highlighted arrests of violent offenders, including citizens of Brazil, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Laos, Mexico and Turkey.
Their combined criminal histories include convictions for indecent assault and battery on a person, enticement of a child to engage in prostitution/human trafficking or commercial sex, assault to rape, statutory rape, child rape, aggravated rape of a child, indecent assault and battery of a child, unnatural acts with a child, possession of child pornography, assault and battery, breaking and entering, failing to register as a sex offender, second-degree murder, kidnapping, strangulation/suffocation, voluntary manslaughter and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a range of drug trafficking and weapons charges, illegal reentry among others.
More than 600 arrested were convicted felons, have pending criminal charges for crimes committed in the United States, or are known foreign fugitives; 277 have removal orders from federal immigration judges.
Three arrested were known or suspected terrorists (KSTs). A record 1,903 KSTs were apprehended by U.S. officials during the Biden administration, the majority at the northern border coming from Canada, The Center Square exclusively reported.
The operation “exposed the grave consequences of sanctuary policies and the urgent need for local leaders to prioritize their constituents’ safety over politics,” Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. “Every illegal alien we arrested during the operation was breaking U.S. immigration law, and hundreds were violent criminals who should never have been allowed to roam freely in our communities.”
Lyons criticized Massachusetts sanctuary policies, including local and state law enforcement jurisdictions refusing to honor ICE detainer requests and transfer known violent offenders into ICE custody. Instead of cooperating with ICE, as they would with local counterparts, they released offenders from custody into the community. This is a primary reason why ICE agents are arresting illegal foreign nationals in communities nationwide as opposed to transferring them from one detention facility to another in a controlled environment, The Center Square reported.
“Local law enforcement agencies released them instead of handing them over to us in a secure environment, and this puts neighborhoods, law enforcement officers and illegal aliens at risk,” Lyons said. “Local politicians are responsible for protecting their constituents, so they need to step up and end irresponsible sanctuary policies.”
ICE ERO-Boston Acting Field Office Director David Wesling said those they arrested included “criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities – murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs. All made the mistake of attempting to undermine U.S. immigration law by hiding out in Massachusetts.”
FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks warned those in the country illegally that they would be found and arrested.
“If you are in this country illegally, hiding out and committing crimes, the FBI and our partners will find you, we will arrest you, and we will remove you from our communities,” Docks said. “These are not harmless individuals in search of a better life, they are threats to public safety. The FBI will not sit idly by and let our immigration system be exploited because the rule of law is not optional.”
Everyone arrested remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings or deportation from the United States.
ICE is encouraging members of the public to report crimes and suspicious activity by calling 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or filling out an online tip form.
