Latest news with #OperationPatriot
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
ICE agents wear masks when making arrests in Massachusetts due to safety concerns, Acting Director says
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A news conference was held earlier this week, revealing nearly 1,500 people were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Massachusetts, and why agents are seen wearing masks. ICE agents in Massachusetts have come under public scrutiny for wearing masks during arrest operations, prompting a pointed response from ICE's Acting Director Todd Lyons during a news conference earlier this week. Protests held in Amherst following arrests by ICE Lyons returned to the podium to explain the reason behind the use of facial coverings by agents, citing escalating threats to officers' personal safety. 'A lot of agencies were invited to come out two weeks ago in Los Angeles, where we ran an operation where ICE offices were doxed,' Lyons told reporters. 'So let's just say that again, people are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves.' The acting director emphasized that the masks are a protective measure, not an attempt to obscure accountability. 'I'm sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I'm not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don't like what immigration enforcement is,' Lyons said. According to Lyons, ICE agents were also recently involved in a joint operation with the U.S. Secret Service, during which an individual was arrested for targeting law enforcement families online. 'We arrested someone who was going online, taking their photos, posting their families, their kids' Instagram, their kids' Facebook, and targeting them,' Lyons said. 'So let me ask—is that the issue here, that we're just upset about the masks, or is anyone upset with the fact that ICE officers' families were labeled terrorists?' Operation Patriot nets 1,500 arrested by ICE in Massachusetts The comments come amid heightened national debate over immigration enforcement tactics, including online privacy and safety for government employees involved in controversial federal operations. The news conference also revealed that nearly 1,500 individuals had been arrested by ICE in Massachusetts as part of recent enforcement actions. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Trump's DHS says Biden released 'barbaric' illegal immigrant now accused of heinous crime
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had issued a detainer in Massachusetts for a criminal illegal immigrant charged with raping a child with force in a crime that was captured on video. Lorenzo Lopez Alcario, a 30-year-old Guatemalan national accused of tying up and brutally sexually assaulting a young girl in a video that was ultimately found by the girl's mother, had the ICE detainer placed on him this week, according to a press release from DHS. The press release states that Alcario first entered the United States illegally on an unknown date before being arrested in 2017 in Arlington, Virginia, for drug possession. Later that year, in September, Alcario was ordered by a judge to be removed by the United States and was deported by aircraft on Sept. 28, 2017. Aoc Fundraises On Trying To Abolish Ice Amid Trump's Crackdown On Illegal Immigration However, according to DHS, Alcario re-entered the United States in June 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration despite his criminal history and previous deportation. Read On The Fox News App In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin made the case that Alcario should never have been allowed back into the United States and that the ICE detainer is aimed at ensuring Alcario does not victimize anyone else in the future. Tennessee Rep Says Nashville Mayor's Ice Policies Amount To 'Aiding And Abetting Illegal Immigration' "Lorenzo Lopez Alcario is a pedophile illegal alien from Guatemala who should've never been in the U.S. in the first place," McLaughlin said. "Despite his previous criminal charges and deportation, President Biden released this barbaric criminal into American communities in 2022. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE lodged a detainer to ensure this criminal illegal alien will not be allowed to terrorize American citizens and will deport this child predator to prevent further victims." ICE has been active in Massachusetts in recent weeks, including via Operation Patriot, which resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,500 illegals, including murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and child sex predators, in the deep blue sanctuary city-heavy state. Sources at ICE told Fox News that 790 of those arrested had criminal convictions or charges and 277 had final removal or deportation orders. The sources said that all the targeted criminals were roaming the streets of Massachusetts cities freely before being apprehended. Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this article source: Trump's DHS says Biden released 'barbaric' illegal immigrant now accused of heinous crime
Fox News
2 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Trump's DHS says Biden released 'barbaric' illegal immigrant now accused of heinous crime
FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced on Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer in Massachusetts for a criminal illegal immigrant charged with raping a child with force in a crime that was captured on video. Lorenzo Lopez Alcario, a 30-year-old Guatemalan national, accused of tying up and brutally sexually assaulting a young girl in a video that was ultimately found by the girl's mother, had the ICE detainer placed on him this week, according to a press release from DHS. The press release states that Alcario first entered the United States illegally on an unknown date before being arrested in 2017 in Arlington, Virginia, for drug possession. Later that year, in September, Alcario was ordered by a judge to be removed by the United States and was deported by aircraft on Sept. 28, 2017. However, according to DHS, Alcario re-entered the United States in June 2022 and was released into the country by the Biden administration despite his criminal history and previous deportation. In a statement, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin made the case that Alcario should never have been allowed back into the United States and that the ICE detainer is aimed at ensuring Alcario does not victimize anyone else in the future. "Lorenzo Lopez Alcario is a pedophile illegal alien from Guatemala who should've never been in the U.S. in the first place," McLaughlin said. "Despite his previous criminal charges and deportation, President Biden released this barbaric criminal into American communities in 2022. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE lodged a detainer to ensure this criminal illegal alien will not be allowed to terrorize American citizens and will deport this child predator to prevent further victims." ICE has been active in Massachusetts in recent weeks, including via Operation Patriot, which resulted in the arrest of nearly 1,500 illegals, including murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and child sex predators, in the deep blue sanctuary city-heavy state. Sources at ICE told Fox News that 790 of those arrested had criminal convictions or charges and 277 had final removal or deportation orders. The sources said that all the targeted criminals were roaming the streets of Massachusetts cities freely before being apprehended.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Marcelo Gomes da Silva should be freed
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up The arrest came as part of stepped-up Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Massachusetts over the past few months. The agency seems to have boosted its arrest numbers by widening its net. Of the roughly 1,500 people that Operation Patriot apprehended in Massachusetts, 790, or barely over half, had prior charges or convictions. The government's own tally implies that another estimated 710 community members had no criminal records at all. Advertisement Among them is Gomes, an honors student from Milford who officials say was a 'collateral arrest' — their name for arrests of people who are undocumented but have no criminal records, encountered by immigration agents in the community. Advertisement The Trump administration has argued that collateral arrests are more likely in places where local police don't cooperate with immigration authorities. If agents could just pick up criminals from courthouses or police stations, the argument goes, they wouldn't have to venture into the community where they're bound to run into other undocumented people. But the argument doesn't hold up under scrutiny — in the Gomes case and in general. The teenager was driving a vehicle belonging to his father, who officials say was the real target of the operation. But there is nothing publicly known that would suggest that the father was free because of anything the state of Massachusetts did, or that state officials could have turned him over to federal immigration even if they'd wanted to. Reporting by The Boston Globe found that the elder Gomes had faced traffic violations two years ago, which were later dismissed. But even if the state of Massachusetts had failed to cooperate with the feds to detain the father, the idea that immigration agents therefore simply had no choice but to arrest 'collaterals' it encountered while looking for him is false. Immigration officers didn't have to arrest Gomes; they chose to. If collateral arrests were really more common in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, one would expect to see fewer of them in places that do cooperate with immigration enforcement. But that doesn't seem to be the case. See Operation Tidal Wave in April, which apprehended 1,120 undocumented immigrants across Florida. Only 63 percent of those detained had prior criminal arrests or convictions. The problem may be that arresting noncriminals could be the only way to reach the deportation numbers the Trump administration wants. The Trump administration recently imposed a new target of 3,000 arrests a day, but contrary to the president's rhetoric, there just aren't enough actual immigrant criminals to meet those numbers. Advertisement Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration, is clinging to anecdotal and often misleading cases to justify its tactics. In a Two of these men were 'arrested' while in custody at state prisons — where the justice system was already punishing them. A third man had been arrested by a New York police department, not federal agents. And the fourth man was a lawful permanent resident, not an 'illegal alien,' as the release claimed. We didn't need to deeply analyze this particular press release to find these gaping errors — the Trump administration simply published information that was in direct contradiction to its own claims. It's scary that people this sloppy with the facts also have the power to make life-changing arrests. Its high-profile blunders also include mistakenly If there's any method to this madness, it may be that the Trump administration thinks it can use arrests of people like Gomes to pressure local governments into aiding with its immigration agenda — to raise the costs for cities and states that don't cooperate. Advertisement But if Gomes's plight is an indictment of the Trump administration, it's also an indictment of Congress. Proposals to normalize the status of young people like Gomes have widespread support but have stalled in Congress for years. If lawmakers had acted, thousands of kids and young adults would no longer fear being deported to a country they may barely know because their parents chose to break immigration laws. Lawmakers should get serious about protecting those young people. Meanwhile, immigration officials should focus on actual safety threats — and Gomes should be back in our community. Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
ICE arrest of Milford student causes community uproar
MILFORD, Mass. (WWLP) – ICE arrests are ramping up around the country, and here in Massachusetts, a detained Milford High School student is drawing national attention. The community in Milford was left confused and outraged, and now, school leaders are speaking out against actions taken by ICE. This comes after students in Milford walked out of school in protest, demanding freedom and justice for their detained classmate and their educators are following. Operation Patriot nets 1,500 arrested by ICE in Massachusetts In a statement, the Massachusetts Teachers Association condemned ICE's 'cruel and inhumane actions,' calling for Milford High School junior Marcelo Gomes Da Silva's immediate release. They're calling on leaders at every level to ensure their schools remain safe spaces of learning, belonging, and safety for all students. 'He was doing everything his parents wanted him to do, going to practice, going to school,' said Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance Executive Director Vatsady Sivongxay. The Milford Teachers Association is also saying their students are more than just an immigration status, ' we call on leaders at every level to ensure our schools remain safe spaces of learning, belonging and safety for all students – not hunting grounds for ICE agents.' Marcelo Gomes Da Silva is being held in the Burlington Detention Center. He is scheduled for an initial hearing at the Chelmsford Immigration Court on Thursday. His lawyer said they will be requesting his release from ICE custody on bond. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
