More than 270 individuals were previously ordered to be removed from the United States but continued to remain illegally.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), together with other federal law enforcement agencies, arrested 1,406 illegal immigrant offenders between Sept. 4 and 30 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the agency said in an Oct. 16 statement.
The arrested individuals included rapists, murderers, child sex predators, and drug traffickers, ICE said.
“More than 600 illegal aliens arrested had significant criminal convictions or pending criminal charges for crimes committed in the United States or were known foreign fugitives,” ICE said.
Among the arrested were an El Salvadoran citizen convicted of indecent assault and assault to rape, a Brazilian with criminal pending charges including rape, an Indian national with pending charges for battery on a person over 14, a Laotian convicted of second-degree murder, and a Turkish national with pending charges for kidnapping.
Arrests were made as part of Operation Patriot 2.0, the latest iteration of Operation Patriot launched by ICE in direct response to sanctuary policies in Massachusetts, which ended on May 31. On Sept. 6, Patriot 2.0 was launched.
Sanctuary policies are rules prohibiting local officials from enforcing immigration regulations and complying with federal authorities. Boston is included in a list of such sanctuary jurisdictions maintained by the Department of Justice.
Under Patriot 2.0, law enforcement targeted criminal illegal immigrants known to operate in and around Boston as well as throughout Massachusetts.
Some of them were affiliated with transnational criminal organizations such as Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios, MS-13, and 18th Street gangs, said the agency.
Three of the arrested individuals were suspected or known terrorists.
Among the criminal illegals arrested as part of Patriot 2.0, 277 were previously ordered to be removed from the United States by a Department of Justice immigration judge, ICE said.
“Patriot 2.0 exposed the grave consequences of sanctuary policies and the urgent need for local leaders to prioritize their constituents’ safety over politics,” said acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons.
“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. 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.”
