'ICE is going to keep doing this': Officials say 1,500 arrested, warn against sanctuary
Officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney's Office said a monthlong crackdown has resulted in the arrests of 1,461 undocumented immigrants, and that its 'enhanced' operation, dubbed Operation Patriot, would continue.
'Make no mistake: ICE is going to keep doing this,' said Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, at a press conference held in Boston on June 2. 'This operation proved that we need to be more.'
Lyons and other officials also warned citizens, 'elected officials and sanctuary jurisdictions' against interfering with ICE operations.
'We will not tolerate anyone who impedes or obstructs ICE operations,' said U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. 'What I have seen on the news and in social media is concerning, to say the least.'
ICE fliers: Posters seeking 'unaccompanied alien' children put fear in New Bedford immigrants
The conference came one day after dozens of people publicly protested the arrest of Milford teenager Marcello Gomes Da Silva on his way to high school volleyball practice. In New Bedford, hundreds have protested after arrests in March, April and May. The violent arrest of Juan Francisco Méndez, where ICE agents were seen on video smashing open the window of his car, garnered national attention.
ICE enforcement in New Bedford has been particularly visible in recent months, with multiple arrests of people of Guatemalan heritage.
In the court system: Guatemalan man whose ICE arrest was caught on video in New Bedford monitored by GPS
Citing criminal charges including drug trafficking, child sex abuse, murder, rape, drunken driving and benefits fraud, Foley said defendants 'didn't simply cross a border – they crossed a line.'
Foley said of the 1,461 people arrested over the past month, 277 were ordered removed from the United States by a judge, and alleged that 790 had 'significant criminality.'
'All made the mistake of attempting to subvert justice by hiding out in Massachusetts,' Foley said.
Attorneys for defendants in immigration-related criminal cases have said ICE operations lack transparency regarding the issuing of arrest warrants and detention locations. In the case of Méndez, his attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin said after his arrest she ran into difficulty tracking down his whereabouts, with ICE, the ATF and the FBI unable to give her concrete information.
On June 2, Lyons insisted that ICE adheres to due process.
'ICE doesn't just scoop people off the street and remove them,' Lyons said. 'Everyone gets due process, and that is what the U.S. Attorney's Office is for. It's what the immigration courts are for.'
Officials reserved harsh words for state and local jurisdictions who 'don't cooperate with ICE.'
'While we covet a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship with our state and local partners, we will work around them when it becomes necessary to ensure the safety and security of Massachusetts,' Foley said.
Patricia Hyde, ICE's Boston field office director, complained of leniency regarding defendants in immigration-related criminal cases.
'We can say we're not a sanctuary state, but when people are arrested for local charges, drug traffickers who are peddling poison in our communities, are walking out the door, not turned over to ICE, what does that sound like to all of you?' said Patricia Hyde. 'That's sanctuary.'
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Boston ICE officials: 1,500 immigrants arrested in crackdown
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