Latest news with #MendozaMeza
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Providence police chief denies helping ICE arrest alleged drug trafficker
Perez said police did not know why Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement Social media video circulated on Sunday and Monday shows Providence police cruisers on the scene of the crash, and also standing on the stoop of a home next to ICE officers who are putting a man in handcuffs. It prompted alarm, including from Advertisement 'There were half a dozen Providence police officers in uniform near the individual who was detained,' Morales said. 'When it comes to trying to maintain public safety on the road and in a public street, that's a whole different story than actively being with the ICE officer.' 'The ICE agent is the one responsible for enforcing immigration law,' he added. Perez said police were on scene only because they received a call about multiple motor vehicle accidents. He said the report came in from the ICE agent, who called dispatch to report the crash. 'Our officers remained on the scene of ensure the safety of residents and to maintain order,' Perez said. Asked why officers stood by the ICE agents on the stoop as they made their arrest, Perez said officers only knocked on the door of the home in an effort to evacuate anyone who wanted to leave, as ICE was about to use force to enter the house to get the suspect, who had run inside after the crash. He said a woman who lives there asked Providence officers to help her and her children evacuate. But moments later, Mendoza Meza came out and voluntarily surrendered. 'We were not involved in a violent raid,' Perez said. That's not our job." He said he had no information about why the man was being pursued in the first place. A police report says the call about the crash came in from a 'government worker who wishes to be unnamed.' The crash report does not name the ICE agent, and does not attribute fault to any party, though it notes that the driver of the Toyota left the scene. Advertisement ICE criticized officials for failing to detain Mendoza Meza on their behalf in the first place. Covington said the agency issued a detainer against Mendoza Meza with the Adult Correctional Institutions on Aug. 24, 2023, but Mendoza Meza was released on bond in 2024, prompting ICE to locate him in the city. Covington said Mendoza Meza, 27, is a 'Honduran national and known member of MS-13,' and in the country illegally. It was not immediately clear if Meza had a lawyer or if he was still detained Monday night. The incident comes as fears remain high about immigration raids and arrests in the community. The Providence City Council recently Providence police do not cooperate with ICE on civil immigration enforcement, nor do they hold suspects who are wanted on administrative detainers alone. But city police will cooperate if they arrest someone for a crime and that person is wanted by ICE on a criminal warrant. Perez said no such requests have come through this year. Perez said this was the first time since Trump took office in January that Providence police ended up at the scene of an ICE raid. He said the local officers 'did not participate in or assist with any enforcement actions carried out by ICE.' 'We do not enforce federal immigration law, nor do we collaborate with ICE in its operations,' Perez said. 'When we respond to these locations, our number one priority is the safety of all involved.' Steph Machado can be reached at
Fox News
a day ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Progressive Dem rep faces backlash for calling ICE 'Nazi thugs' while defending MS-13 gang member
A progressive Democratic state representative sparked controversy after referring to ICE agents as "Nazi Gestapo thugs" following an ICE operation in Providence, Rhode Island, that resulted in the arrest of a known MS-13 gang member. "The Nazi Gestapo ICE thugs kidnapped another of our neighbors in Providence this morning. This time on Alverson St.," wrote Rep. Enrique Sanchez in social media posts. "The ICE thugs damaged a couple of residents' cars as well. They think they are above the law. I strongly condemn this act of terror and will be demanding answers and seeking action tomorrow. I am tired of this s**t. Providence doesn't want ICE thugs in our city." The arrest in question was of Ivan Rene Mendoza Meza, a 27-year-old Honduran national illegally present in the U.S. and a self-admitted member of the violent MS-13 gang. ICE sources told Fox News that during the operation, Mendoza attempted to flee, causing a crash by striking ICE vehicles before running into his apartment. He was eventually surrounded and surrendered to agents. Mendoza was seen smirking in his arrest photo, seeming to be unfazed by his capture. Mendoza has a history of criminal activity, including fentanyl trafficking charges in Rhode Island. ICE Boston had previously lodged an immigration detainer against him following those charges in August 2023. However, the 6th District Court of Rhode Island declined to honor the detainer, releasing Mendoza without notifying ICE, forcing agents to locate and arrest him in the community. According to ICE Boston spokesperson James Covington, "Mendoza is a self-admitted member of MS-13 in Honduras and states he has committed crimes on behalf of the gang." ICE spokesperson Emily Covington criticized Sanchez's remarks: "Mr. Sanchez thinks so little of his community that he refers to ruthless MS-13 as his 'neighbors'? What say you, Providence? The only 'thugs' we see are the illegal terrorist gangbangers we are trying to remove from the neighborhoods of Providence." Mendoza originally entered the U.S. illegally near San Ysidro, California, in May 2019 and was quickly returned to Mexico. However, officials say he later re-entered the country unlawfully at an unknown time and place. Sanchez, who has strongly opposed immigration enforcement, taunted ICE agents on Sunday after a farmworker died from injuries sustained from a fall during an immigration enforcement raid on a California cannabis farm. "F*** ICE," Sanchez wrote. "Vallanse a la chingada ICE." "State Representative Enrique Sanchez (D), who was arrested for DUI earlier this year, calls ICE agents "Nazi Gestapo thugs" in an online rant after an MS-13 gang member facing fentanyl charges was arrested with a smile across his face," Libs of TikTok commented on Sanchez's statements. "Just Democrats supporting criminal alien gangs over American citizens." In 2023, Sanchez filed RI H5461, a bill to give illegal immigrants the right to vote in the state. However, the bill was tabled for further study a month after it was introduced.
